It's been raining hard for three days, and we even had some tornado warnings yesterday. Things are getting a bit soggy underfoot. The flagstone patio is holding puddles of water, and big drops of rain are falling from the trees. Here's a picture of the Deep Fork River near our farm. It's running over the banks again and flooding for miles. Fortunately our house isn't in any danger, but can you imagine living next to this? Pretty muddy, but good for fishing.
My Boy says it's been raining cats and dogs. Well, I don't know about that as I haven't seen any cats or dogs falling from the sky. I think he's making that part up, but wouldn't it be funny to see big German Shepherds, little fluffy pooches, calicos and tabbies all falling tip over teakettle and landing with a splash? Okies sure have a funny way of talking.
When I looked this expression up, here's what I found:
It's Raining Cats and DogsMeaning: A torrential downpour.
Origins: Several theories exist about the origins of this phrase. One from the seventeenth century England suggests that heavy rains caused flooding and, sadly, carried the floating bodies of dead dogs and cats along the streets. Not sure I really like this explanation, I can tell you. Some others suggested that dogs and cats who happened to be on the roofs of houses would fall through the wet thatch. Silly idea, why would a dog be on a roof? Cats, yes, but dogs? Another theory links this expression to mythology and superstition. It was believed cats had influence over weather. Perhaps this connection came from a belief that witches, who rode the wind, sometimes took the form of cats. Dogs were attendants of Odin, the storm god, so sailors used to associate dogs with storms.
Here are some other funny dog expressions we hear around these parts...
The Hair of the Dog That Bit You -- A pick-me-up alcoholic beverage you down in the morning after an indulgent night of drinking.
Go to the Dogs -- To fall into disrepair, or to otherwise deteriorate in quality.
Barking Up the Wrong Tree -- To be off course, or to search for something in the wrong place. Cap does this alot when he forgets where he left his squeakie.
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie -- It's best to leave well enough alone.
The Dog Days of Summer -- The hottest time of the year, usually July through August hereabouts.
I'm sure there are other doggy expressions, but these are the first ones I thought of, and we hear them alot here in Oklahoma. What expressions do you hear in your part of the world?
~Tell
On the brighter side, our Boxer is growing more beautiful every day. We finally settled on the name Miley (My Boy is a huge Hannah Montana fan, can you tell?). She is up to forty pounds now. Still skinny, I like my girls to have a little reserve on them, if you know what I mean. Don't worry, though. We'll fatten her up. Just takes a little more time to build up those muscles that had wasted away. So far she is great on a leash and has learned to sit on command. She's a quiet girl, too. Sweet and loving, with no rough-housing, which will make her a good pet for a family with kids. It's so funny to see her play bow, and wag her tail. She doesn't just wag her tail, she shakes her booty. Just cracks me up every time she does it!
