Conveying 'It's raining cats and dogs'

Question

One expression that I consider a 'classic' in English is (another one here):

It's raining cats and dogs.

This phrase is used to convey heavy and intense rainfall. While there is no direct translation in French, I have come across two similar expressions:

• The first one is 'Il pleut des cordes,' which conveys the sense of a significant downpour.
• The second one is 'Il pleut comme une vache qui pisse.'

However, in my understanding, both of these expressions might fall short in capturing the vivid imagery of the English expression. Am I correct? Are there any other expressions closer to the English meaning?

Answer 1

Il pleut des cordes is the exact equivalent to "it's raining cats and dogs" in terms of imagery and frequency and a great classic. These sort of phrases never have exact equivalents because they are rooted in the History and traditions of a country.

Il pleut des cordes is by far the most frequent colloquial expression to say the it's raining heavily. It conveys the optical illusion of the raindrops being all attached we seem to see one continuous flood coming down from the sky.

Il pleut comme vache qui pisse* is probably a more "vivid image" but not so frequent, and a different register, it's a lot more informal.

One vivid image is probably il pleut des hallebardes. It is older than il pleut des cordes and does not sound informal, but it is much less widely used. Victor Hugo used it in Les Misérables :

il lansquine, il pleut, vieille figure frappante, qui porte en quelque sorte sa date avec elle, qui assimile les longues lignes obliques de la pluie aux piques épaisses et penchées des lansquenets, et qui fait tenir dans un seul mot la métonymie populaire : il pleut des hallebardes.

Other images are il pleut des seaux (which I gather from Plus jamais quoi encore's answer seems to be more frequent in Quebec French), as is il pleut des clous.

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* _{It's usually comme vache qui pisse, no indefinite article.}

Answer 2

No, I don't think the statement is correct. Often nothing seems as idiomatic as one's native or main language, although sometimes the opposite occurs and one is perceiving overly metaphorical imagery when the native speaker doesn't. In any case the expressions you suggested do convey the meaning in my opinion, as well as imagery, albeit a different one.

I'll add two other expressions/variations from Quebec:

Il pleut à siaux (an modified form for seaux; QC using that form/pronunciation).
Il pleut à boire debout. (QC)

Answer 3

Maybe you would like to use "Il pleut à torrents" which technically means that it rains enough to create huge streams of rushing water.

Answer 4

Il pleut à verse serves for pouring heavily. Quite common phrasing for pouring rain, though idiomatically perhaps not as expressive in imagery. Il pleut à cordes fits the bill there as noted but à verse not to be omitted.

Il pleut à verse chez Collins.