Toads and snakes, knives and forks... Here are some of our favourite translations of the English phrases "It's raining cats and dogs" from around the world.
Cats and dogs, toads and snakes, knives and forks… you never quite know what’s going to come down with the next downpour! It’s amazing what falls out of the sky in different parts of the world: young cobblers in Germany and Denmark; frogs in France, Romania and Poland; tractors in Slovakia… wheelbarrows, puppies, axes, little old women and even pilot whales if you’re unlucky enough to get caught out in a storm in the Faroe Isles! Perhaps fair-weather walkers can be forgiven their qualms about walking in the rain when there’s a risk that a female troll might just land on your head?
Here are some of our favourite translations of the English idiom ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’.
| English | It’s raining cats and dogs. | |
| Welsh | Mae hi’n bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn. | It’s raining old women and walking sticks. |
| Mae hi’n bwrw cyllyll a ffyrc. | It’s raining knives and forks. | |
| Irish | Tá sé ag caitheamh sceana gréasaí. | It’s raining shoemakers’ knives. |
| Norwegian | Det regner trollkjerringer. | It’s raining female trolls. |
| Danish | Det regner skomagerdrenge. | It’s raining shoemakers’ apprentices. |
| Africaans | Ou vrouens met knopkieries reen. | It’s raining old women with clubs. |
| Czech | Padají trakaře. | It’s raining wheelbarrows. |
| Dutch | Het regent pijpestelen. | It’s raining pipe stems. |
| French | Il pleut des cordes. | It’s raining ropes. |
| Italian | Piove a catinelle. | It rains from basins |
| German | Es regnet gießt Schusterjungs. | It’s raining shoemaker boys. |
| Es regnet junge Hunde. | It’s raining puppies. | |
| Greek | Βρέχει καρεκλοπόδαρα (brékhei kareklopódara) | It’s raining chair legs. |
| Polish | Leje zabami. | It’s raining frogs. |
| Portuguese | Está chovendo barba de sapo. | It’s raining toads’ beards. |
| Está chovendo canivetes. | It’s raining penknives. | |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Chovem cobras e lagartos. | It’s raining snakes and lizards. |
| Slovak | Padajú traktory. | It’s raining tractors. |
| Croatian | Padaju sjekire. | It’s raining axes. |
| Bosnian | Padaju ćuskije. | It’s raining crowbars. |
| Swedish | Det ösregnar. | It’s raining ladles. |
| Det regnar smådjävlar. | It’s raining little devils. | |
| Flemish | Het regent kattenjongen. | It’s raining kittens. |
| Hindi | मुसलधार बारिश (musaldhār bārish) | It’s raining a stream of mallets. |
| Romanian | Plouă cu broaşte. | It’s raining frogs. |
| Spanish | Está lloviendo a cantaros | It’s raining jugs. |
| Frisian | It reint hynste-eagen. | It’s raining horse eyes. |
| Faroese | Tað regnar av grind. | It’s raining pilot whales. |
| Icelandic | Það rignir eld og brennustein | It’s raining fire and brimstone. |
| Columbian Spanish | Estan lloviendo hasta maridos. | It’s even raining husbands. |
| Japanese | 土砂降りである (doshaburi de aru) | Earth and sand are falling. |
| Chinese | 落狗屎 (lohk gáusí) | Dog poo is falling. |
| Hebrew | מבול משמיים mabul mi shamayim' | Floods from the sky. |
| Arabic | كب من عند الرب Kab min ind el rab | It's pouring from heaven. |
