Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[CP]

According to Sirius, "If you follow the link, it is clearly stated there."

Well, I checked the link when Bob S. first posted it, and I have checked all the links from that link as well, and not one of them used like in the expression.

I say again that no one says, "It's raining like cats and dogs," both because that is not the standard expression and because it makes no sense whatsoever. There has to be some similarity for a simile to work. "It's raining like a waterfall" would make some sense, but "It's raining like cats and dogs" is nonsense.

As for speaking in absolutes, and being so bold as to say that we never say it that way: Of course someone could say it that way and might say it that way -- a child who misheard the expression, a non-native speaker who made a mistake -- but a well-informed native speaker would never say it that way.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Tone]

ok so I would say... "it's raining cats and dogs" is the correct one..

ClarissaMach...... agree that the panda joke is so funny and a good lesson learn for ESL like us!!... That's why I posted it in my signature.
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==>English Quiz |English Grammar |English Conversation<==

[lotus]

OK, I'll chime in -- albeit a little late.

"It's raining cats and dogs" is a common phrase. However, you might hear "It was raining like cats and dogs" in dialogue like this.

John: Hi Dave, I just back got into town. I heard that it's been raining lately.
David: Oh yeah, it was pouring last week.
John: Really, how hard was it raining?
David: Oh, it was raining like cats and dogs!

"It's raining cats and dogs" is a statement of a condition.

"It was raining (like cats and dogs)" is a description of that condition. It answers the question "How hard was it raining?" -- like cats and dogs. It's equivalent to saying "It was raining (a lot)" or "It was raining (prodigously)."

We would rarely hear "It is raining like cats and dogs" because we are describing an existing condition, not what it would be like if it existed. "It's raining cats and dogs" is a complete statement which needs no other description. Therefore, it would be moot to try to qualify it with "It's raining like cats and dogs." Hence, we would almost never use "like" for this phrase in the present tense.

You could make the same argument for the past tense. But, since the "how" question begs an adverbial answer, it would be appropriate to use "like." You could replace "It was raining like cats and dogs" with "It rained (how?) like cats and dogs."


--lotus[u][/u
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War does not make one great --Yoda

[CP]

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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[yoshi-pooh]

Hi CP, lotus
The discussion over "It's raining cats and dogs" is very interesting to me.
In the first place, however, is this phrase still commonly used? In Japan, "...cats and doigs" is disappearing from English textbooks because many native English teachers, mostly Americans, say it exists only in dictionaries and is hardly used anymore.

If it's true, I think the use of "like cats and dogs" lotus made up above would just sound like a joke or something based on an old phrase, rather than a natural reply to the question.

yoshi-pooh

[Sirius]

[lotus]

Hi Yoshi-pooh,

Oh yes, it is very common. In my experience, these three variations of the phrase are the most common.

It's raining cats and dogs.
It rained like cats and dogs.
It rained cats and dogs.

I assure you, it is a very common expression in the United States (no joke).

Although not authoritative, the first two pages of a Google search netted these:
http://au.answers.yahoo.com/answers2/frontend.php/question?qid=20080316090512AAgz7p1
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/87760
http://letternapple.blogspot.com/2006/03/like-cats-n-dogs.html
http://www.abbreviations.com/b1.asp?KEY=394083&st=Raining%20Like%20Cats%20and%20Dogs


--lotus
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War does not make one great --Yoda

[yoshi-pooh]

Hi lotus,

Thank you for reply. I really appreciate it.

yoshi-pooh