Most of us talk about the weather every day. Fortunately, in the last few days the weather has settled and it doesn’t often rain. Anyway there’s been a lot to talk about. In Italy we lived through cloudburst and floods last month. Bad weather is nothing new. But it’s getting worse — and the uncomfortable fact is that it’s manmade. Manmade pollution from greenhouse gases is warming the atmosphere.

Weather events that would otherwise be occasional, freak occurrences are now becoming commonplace. And let’s be clear: the scientific evidence is not in question. These risks were also laid out in last year’s comprehensive report, provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) by the World Meteorological Organization in partnership with the United Nations. Lately, scientists have demonstrated over and over again that the steady rise in carbon pollution has been the primar y cause of the steady rise in global temperatures since the mid-20th century. There’s no evidence that natural causes, such as volcanoes or solar activity, have played a significant role since then. At this point in human history, we do more than talk about the weather, we’re actually influencing it. We know the solution. We need to end our dependence on dirty sources of energy like oil, coal and gas.

 

Anyway at school our English teacher likes having the weather conversations because she hates rain and she can’t stand the unpredictable weather. Above all she detests wearing a cagoule or a parka or her windcheater. This year she has bought a wide range of raincoats (a Mackintosh is a must) in different colours for the occasion. She likes telling us the expression or words used to describe the precise nature of weather phenomenon and “believe” me they are many.

When it’s raining very lightly, she often says: it’s drizzling, it’s mizzling or it’s spitting but when it rains heavily she used to saying: it’s pouring, it’s pelting or it’s bucketing and she gets really angry because she feels soaked and it’s damp everywhere.

Last week we had three days of showers or a sort of cloudburst that caused the so called weather warnings  that made students stay at home in some areas at risk. This  emergency was the straw that made the camel’s back of her nerves.

Anyway she also explained us the use of one the most common idiomatic expressions in Great Britain:” it’s raining cats and dogs”. According to some etymologists the explanation of this expression dates back to Odin, the Norse god of storms, who was often pictured with dogs and wolves, associated to the wind. Moreover, black cats, became signs of heavy rain for sailors. Therefore, “raining cats and dogs” may refer to a storm with wind (dogs) and heavy rain (cats).

“Cats and dogs” may come from the Greek expression cata doxa, which means “contrary to experience or belief.” If it is raining cats and dogs, it is raining unusually or unbelievably hard.

Cats and dogs” may be a misinterpretation of the obsolete word catadupe. In old English, catadupe meant a cataract or waterfall. In Latin, for example, catadupa was borrowed from the classical Greek κατάδουποι, which referred to the cataracts of the Nile River. So, to say it’s raining “cats and dogs” might be to say it’s raining waterfalls.

A false theory but the most enjoyable stated that cats and dogs used to cuddle into thatch roofs during storms. and then be washed out during heavy rains. However, a thatch roof is naturally but relatively water resistant so when the animals went to seek shelter during a storm and to slip off the roof or they fell in the houses.

In the last few days as the rains are moderate, she is getting used to say the expressions: the heavens have opened or lovely weather for ducks!

In any case or the weather forecast promises ‘a bit of drizzle’, or ‘a few spots of rain’, or plenty of rain what is really important is having everything under control and enjoying splashing in puddles with a colourful pair of Wellington boots on.