"Raining Cats and Dogs" — the Messy Truth
Somewhere in your inbox history, there's probably an email titled "Life in the 1500s" explaining that pets slept in thatched roofs and slid out when it rained. Millions of people read it. It shaped how a generation explains this idiom. And it was made up, top to bottom.
Nobody knows for certain where "raining cats and dogs" comes from — and that's the honest headline. Variants appear in English by the 1650s, Jonathan Swift standardized the modern form in 1738, and the two credible theories are grimly flooded streets or plain comic exaggeration. The thatched-roof story is a 1990s email hoax.
The "Life in the 1500s" email claimed animals lived in thatch and slipped through when it got wet. Problems: cats and dogs didn't live inside roof thatch (it's dense, woven straw, not an attic), wet thatch gets grippier rather than slipperier, and no historical source before the 1990s mentions any of it. It's folklore with a timestamp — we know roughly when the "old story" was invented, and it was during the Clinton administration.
The real paper trail
The phrase's ancestors show up in the 1650s. Richard Brome's play The City Wit (1652) has the delightful variant:
"It shall raine… Dogs and Polecats." — Richard Brome, The City Wit, 1652
Polecats! The 17th century clearly enjoyed the idea of weather made of animals — related exaggerations like "raining pitchforks" were in circulation too. The exact modern phrasing is usually credited to Jonathan Swift, whose 1738 satire of small talk has a character say it's likely to "rain cats and dogs." Swift was mocking clichés, which tells you the phrase was already worn out by 1738. Idioms are always older than their famous citations.
The gutter theory
Here's where it gets grim — and plausible. Twenty-eight years before that citation, Swift wrote "A Description of a City Shower" (1710), a poem about London rain flooding the streets and washing the city's filth along the gutters, including the bodies of dead cats and dogs. After a proper storm, it genuinely looked as if it had rained animals.
That's the leading serious theory: not animals falling from the sky, but animals appearing in the streets after heavy rain. It fits the era's sanitation, it fits Swift's documented imagery, and it requires no acrobatic pets. The alternative — that it's simply absurdist hyperbole that stuck, like "raining pitchforks" — is equally respectable. The record can't split the two, so we won't pretend it can.
Why the hoax beat the history
The email hoax offered something the truth can't: a complete, cozy story with no loose ends. Real etymology often ends in "we're not sure," and audiences hate that ending. So the fake circulates and the honest answer stays niche — the exact pattern we document across our fake origins roundup and the spill the beans case.
Other languages, by the way, have better versions: French rain falls "like cows peeing," Norwegian rain comes down as trolls' wives, and Greek rain falls "chair legs." English got cats and dogs and, frankly, we've made it everyone's problem. For dated citations, see the Phrase Finder and the Library of Congress Everyday Mysteries entry on this phrase.
Quick FAQ
Where does the phrase come from?
Unknown for certain. Variants exist by the 1650s; Swift standardized the modern form in 1738. Best theories: flooded streets washing dead animals through gutters, or plain comic exaggeration.
Is the thatched-roof story true?
No — it comes from a 1990s email hoax called "Life in the 1500s." No historical source supports it.
Who first wrote it down?
Richard Brome came close in 1652 ("rain dogs and polecats"); Jonathan Swift's 1738 use is the standard first citation of the modern form.
What do other languages say?
French: raining like cows peeing. Norwegian: raining trolls' wives. Greek: raining chair legs. Every language exaggerates its weather; only the props change.
Want the next story?
One idiom out of the jar, every Friday — its real origin in under two minutes of reading. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
We respect your privacy. Privacy Policy.
The IdiomJar team researches phrase origins from dictionaries, digitized newspaper archives, and the work of etymologists — and clearly labels anything that's folklore rather than fact. Read more about how we work.