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It's Greek to me―not me, her.

Posted by A738a on April 22, 2016

idiom |ˈidēəm| noun

1 a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., rain cats and dogs, see the light).

• a form of expression natural to a language, person, or group of people: he had a feeling for phrase and idiom.

• the dialect of a people or part of a country.

2 a characteristic mode of expression in music or art: they were both working in a neo-Impressionist idiom.

ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from French idiome, or via late Latin from Greek idiōma ‘private property, peculiar phraseology,’ from idiousthai ‘make one's own,’ from idios ‘own, private.’

Let's see what happens when we picture the literal meaning of idioms in our minds:

Huuuuuuuge fan!

Illustrator: kerenr

This blog entry is dedicated to Onee-chan. She knows why. =)

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Comments

A738a April 24, 2016 8:26

Dear setareh,

The etymology is unknown. However,

Phrase to rain cats and dogs is attested from 1738 (variation rain dogs and polecats is from 1652), of unknown origin, despite intense speculation.

The archaic French catdoupe is a waterfall or cataract, lightning and thunder sounds like that of a cat/dog fight, cats had a big influence on the weather, and the sky dog Odin was attended to by wolves according to Norse Mythology.

Another theory is that in old England, they had hay roofs on their houses and the cats and dogs would sleep on the roof. When it rained, the roofs got slippery and the cats and dogs would slide off of the roofs. There for it was "Raining Cats and Dogs".

"Rain Cats and Dogs" stems from the Norse Mythology. Cats were believed to represent the wind and dogs represented rain. Different animals represented different weather and natural phenomenon.

[Reference: Etymonline.com]

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setareh April 24, 2016 7:27

Interesting Post! I always wonder why they say ' it rains like cats and dogs' then i sais maybe they have kind of severe rain which when someone looks at the sky it seems like cats and dogs.:D
A738a April 22, 2016 20:45

Aw, you're so kind. About the posts and stuff; it's just a coincidence. Anyway, thanks for your comment, dear Batuhan.
A738a April 22, 2016 20:36

Somethin' like this? Jeez. I can't believe somebody drew this. Hang on, butterfly is not an idiom. Still though...

Thanks for droppin' by, Estanis.

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Estanis April 22, 2016 19:41

Hehe... You made me recall when I first learned the word 'buterfly'