IdiomNature
French
FrenchTomber des hallebardes
Meaning: To rain extremely hard.
Literally: To rain halberds
Example: “Prends ton imperméable, il tombe des hallebardes.” — Take your raincoat; it's raining cats and dogs.
English equivalent: To rain cats and dogs
Other ways to say this
English: It's raining cats and dogs
Dutch: Het regent pijpenstelen Literally: It's raining pipe stems- French: Il pleut comme vache qui pisse Literally: It rains like a cow that pisses
Origin: A halberd is a long pole-axe, and rain falling point-down in dense lines makes the image. French also says tomber des cordes, to rain ropes, for the same downpour.
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- Un fil d'Ariane A guiding thread through something impossibly complicated.
- En file indienne In single file, one behind another.
- Conter fleurette To woo someone with sweet talk.
- Des manœuvres florentines Devious, elaborately indirect political scheming.
- De bonne foi Sincerely, without intent to deceive.
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