It was during either my second or third bathroom visit last night that the heavy rain falling on the skylight made me think “Wow, it’s raining cats and dogs.” (Yeah, we have a skylight in our windowless bathroom to allow more light in. To date, no helo nor drone has been sighted hoovering above to take a gander at what would ultimately be a very disappointing view for the viewer.)
After that “raining cats and dogs” thought had occurred to me, my next not-so-deep thought was “Where the hell did that expression come from?”
Well, after only a little searching here is some of what I found:
I know you have probably forgotten already, but I recently did a Buzzyblog post on Jonathan Swift a couple weeks ago following my attempted visit to see his burial site in Dublin (click here for that post.) Thus, to stumble upon this little bit of cats-and-dogs info seemed kinda of appropriate to me.
Turns out that in the poem, Swift was using a rain storm to describe how it flushed out and exposed the not-so-glamorous underbelly of Londontown (click here.) Excerpt follows:
In case you have not noticed it, no poems have appeared here on the Buzzyblog recently. I have refrained from doing so on the advice of my buddy Norm.
Awhile back, he sent me a very nice message complimenting and telling me how much he enjoyed reading the Buzzyblog every day. He concluded his note however with “I only have one complaint – “F’k poetry!”
Thus, in continued deference to Norm, I won’t bore you by including Swift’s “Description of a City Shower” here; but should you want to check it out click here to do so.
In looking for a musical tune to play here, I saw several other Youtube videos that also discuss the origins of the phrase. (Swift was one of many who cited it.) Just go to Youtube and enter Raining Cats and Dogs.