You’ve probably heard it said that roots run deep, so get a group of people together scattered all over the country with heritage from vast different parts of the world and you’re bound to discover some odd, and often humorous, verbiage. With this month’s theme of “Walk in the Rain,” we couldn’t help but learn all the different ways a person could talk about rain. Here are nine of our favorites:
Frog-strangler: This term is used to describe a torrential downpour. According to the idiom dictionary of WritingExplained.org, this expression comes from the idea that some storms are rainy enough to actually drown frogs. Because frogs are amphibians, and spend much of their lives in water, some people might assume that it is impossible for frogs to drown. However, this is not the case if the water does not contain enough oxygen, or if too much water enters frogs’ lungs.
Raining Cats and Dogs: This idiom, much more familiar, is another favorite way to express heavy rainfall. But where did it come from? Well, that’s up for debate, but TheFreeDictionary.com states that it may refer to the days when drainage in towns was so poor that cats and dogs sometimes drowned in heavy rainfall. The information goes on to say that `cats and dogs' could be a corruption or misunderstanding of the Greek word `catadupe', meaning `waterfall', so the expression would originally have been `it's raining like a waterfall'.
Spritzing: A Pennsylvania Dutch-ism, this term is used when talking about a light rain. This term may have originally come from the German word “Spritzen” which, when translated, is “to spray.”
Pikels: According to this article from Mentalfloss.com about long-forgotten weather words, Pikels are heavy drops or sheets of rain. The word pikel itself is an old Lancashire dialect name for a pitchfork, while the local saying “to rain pikels with the tines downwards” means to rain very heavily indeed.
Cloudburst: This picturesque way of identifying a sudden and heavy rain over a small area dates back to 1810-1820. Though this is not verified, a writeup on Wikipedia claims the term "cloudburst" arose from the notion that clouds were akin to water balloons and could burst, resulting in rapid precipitation. Though this idea has since been disproven, the term remains in use.
Deluge: This word may be fun to say, but don’t get caught in one! Meaning an inundation or great flood of water, this term traces all the way back to the days of Noah.
Mizzle: Another word for drizzle, or light rain, dates back to the late 1400s, originating from The Dutch word mizzelen or German word miseln.
Spitting Rain: It’s a light rainfall, but annoying enough to mess up your plans. Nothing explains it better than this article stating “Spitting rain is the small nagging child of precipitation. Although it won’t wet you entirely, spitting rain has evolved cunning ways of getting at you – it tends to creep along the forehead and enter the eyeballs at odd angles. It splashes up from the ground and attacks the sock and ankle area with a great and unexpected tenacity. It can mysteriously appear on the underside of umbrellas even though the top is bone dry. It can be a complete nightmare for drivers trying to decide on an appropriate wiper setting. Note that it’s pronounced ‘shpitting’.”
Lovely Weather for Ducks: Been raining a lot lately? Like a lot a lot?! That’s when this phrase may come out, but what exactly does it mean? Well, according to British slang, this article states it as a funny way to express “that the terrible weather must be good for something at least – like Ducks.”
Feel free to “sprinkle” some of these words or phrases into your vocabulary next time the rain starts falling. And better yet, do it while taking a walk in the rain.