Buzz
While you may be familiar with global idioms for heavy rain, have you explored how Americans describe it? In collaboration with the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), we present 11 unique regional sayings that go far beyond the typical 'cats and dogs' expression.
1. THE DEVIL AND PITCHFORKS ARE FALLING FROM THE SKY
This phrase, recorded in Florida, has numerous variations across the U.S., such as pitchforks are raining (tines down) and hammer handles (and pitchforks) are pouring from the sky.
2. MONKEYS ARE TUMBLING FROM THE CLOUDS
If you fancy a more animal-themed description for rain, try this Louisiana expression.
3. BULLFROGS ARE FALLING FROM THE SKY
After a downpour, bullfrogs and other amphibians often appear, inspiring this phrase commonly used in the South and South Midland. Other creatures mentioned in similar sayings include frogs, toad-frogs, and tadpoles.
4. TOAD-STRANGLER
Also referred to as toad-choker, this term describes an intense rainfall and is popular in Gulf States like Alabama, Louisiana, and eastern Texas, as well as the South Midland. Similar expressions include frog-strangler and frog rain.
5. GOOSE-DROWNDER
"Today’s rain is a real goose-drownder!" you might hear in the Midland region. Another variation is fish-drownder.
6. TURD-FLOATER
If you find yourself in a torrential rainstorm, exclaim, "This is a true turd-floater!"—a phrase popular in Texas and Oklahoma. (Alternatively, you could say cob-floater.)
7. GULLY-WASHER
A gully-washer refers to "intense rainfall or the resulting runoff," as defined by DARE. It’s also known as a gully-buster, gully-pour, or gully-whopper. (A gully is a trench formed by water flow after heavy rain.) This term is widely used across the U.S., except in New England, and is less common in the Inland North and Pacific states like Washington, Oregon, and California.
8. MUD-SENDER
In California, you might hear mud-sender or mud rain. Meanwhile, in the mid-Atlantic states, such as Maryland and Virginia, and the Lower Mississippi Valley, terms like trash-mover and bridge lifter are used, particularly in North Carolina.
9. PALMETTO POUNDER
If you’re in Miami during a heavy rainstorm, you’re experiencing a palmetto pounder, named after the tropical palmetto palm trees common in the area.
10. SIZZLY SOD-SOAKER
In the Appalachian region, a sizzly sod-soaker describes a persistent, steady rain. As noted in The Wolfpen Notebooks: A Record of Appalachian Life: "When the elders wished for rain, they’d gaze at the sky and say, ‘I hope it brings a sizzly sod-soaker.’" The book even shares a quirky rain-making tip: "For a sizzly sod-soaker: Three snakes."
11. NUBBIN
In eastern Kentucky, a nubbin refers to a heavy rain that transforms stunted corn ears, known as nubbins, into fully developed ones. It’s also called a nubbin strangler or nubbin stretcher. The term nubbin killer refers to the thunder that precedes such rain. Why focus on stunted corn? Nubbins are often used as cattle feed, as mentioned in DARE.
