While half the country is lying on a Croatian beach right now, the rest of us are being drenched at seemingly regular intervals. I won’t look at the forecast for my hometown back in Australia but I bet the phrase “rain all day with 2 minutes of sunshine” isn’t included. So what to do? All we really can do is look at some rain idioms ๐
Come rain or shine
We use this to say we’ll do something whatever happens or whatever the weather is like:
I have to be in Brno tomorrow come rain or shine.
We’ll deliver it tomorrow rain or shine.
Take a rain check (on something)
This comes from the USA, as a rain check is a ticket to an outdoor event which you can use later on if it rains. It’s use is now more idiomatic way to say that we can do something later when the time is better:
Sorry, got to go. I’ll take a rain check on that drink tonight.
When it rains, it pours/It never rains but it pours
Sometimes bad things happen all at once. Your partner leaves you, you lose your job, and your team loses in the finals (that’s by far the worst).
So we say when it rains, it pours.
We can also use this to say that many things happen at once in a big quantity:
Bill: “Another customer of ours cancelled their order. That’s the 9th today!”
George: “When it rains, it pours.”
This idiom can be used to stress how something can happen in big amounts after a long drought. Just like in Australia it may not rain for 6 months and then suddenly there’s a big downpour:
Bill: “For months I didn’t go on a date and now there are 5 girls who all want me!”
Hillary: “It never rains, but it pours.”
Rain on someone’s parade
If you have a parade and it rains, it spoils the occasion. Likewise, sometimes things may seem to be going well for your friend but you want to warn them about something or say something which may spoil things:
George: “I just met a really beautiful woman!”
Bill: “Yeah, I know her. Look, I hate to rain on your parade but she’s married.”
George: “I think I’ll get the job.”
Bill: “I’m not trying to rain on your parade but I heard they’ve chosen Barrack as he has more experience.”
This idiom is usually used just before you give your friend the potentially bad news. In a way, you’re acknowledging that you’re going to say something which they may not like.
Right as rain
We use this idiom to say that everything will work out in the end or that everything will be ok or in good order:
Bill: “I had a headache this morning but after drinking a lot of water I was right as rain.”
Barrack: “Once we raise our debt limit to 20 trillion dollars and sell all our assets to China, we’ll be right as rain.”
Today’s cool rain Tweets
When I was younger, I remember two drops of rain moving down the window and pretending it was a race.
– funnyfacts
There will be a rain dance today, weather permitting.
– discordianquote
Rain falling in Chicago on my bike ride. Frankly, I expected to get hit by falling stocks first.
– redeyesportsguy
The feeling of sheer panic as you see the first drops of rain hit your windshield and you can’t remember if you have an umbrella in your car
– NothingButNorts
Source: Twitter
When it’s the Talk of the Town
In parts of Australia when there’s drought (=no rain for a very long time) a downpour can be something the whole town talks about, as this country-pop ditty by John Farnham shows. Let’s hope my next post won’t be on floods.
[…] against the parade stayed away for the most part, as did the rain – so it didn’t rain on their parade. Beyond that, I kinda wondered what the point of the parade actually […]