When chatting to Ryan Tubridy about the book the other day, he seemed incredulous that I was able to think of twenty Irish terms for rain in a single evening – where on earth had I heard of them all? ?The fact is that Irish rain is described in these terms, it is rarely just described as rain. ?I’m not sure if the Inuit have the 40 terms for snow or not but the Irish surely have more than 20 terms for rain.
Twenty Irish Terms for Rain
- Soft rain – rain that falls softly on your skin and on the grass.
- Mist – soft rain your can barely see or feel, it is almost like wet air.
- Drizzle – soft rain that soaks you in minutes even though it might only seem like a heavy mist.
- A grand soft day – soft rain on a warm day, perfect for grass growth.
- April showers – short bursts of heavy rain intermixed with sunshine.
- Cloudburst – a sudden heavy shower that does not last long.
- A squib – an attempt at a shower.
- Trying to rain – The clouds and air feel heavy, as though it is trying to rain.
- Driving rain – Rain that lashes against your windows, harsh and relentless.
- Lashing rain – Rain that falls in straighter lines than driving rain.
- Spitting rain – Large drops of angry rain that soak you immediately. It almost hurts your skin as it feels spiky.
- Pelting rain – A heavy version of spitting rain.
- Sun showers – Sunny days with sudden showers, similar to April showers except they occur during the other 11 months.
- Torrential rain – Heavy relentless and constant rain.
- Pouring rain – relentless heavy rain (similar to torrential rain).
- Heavens opened – A sudden and heavy shower of rain.
- A downpour – A sudden, long and very heavy shower of rain.
- A thunder shower – A sudden and heavy shower of rain during hot weather.
- Shocking rain – Rain that is so heavy, it just runs off the land in streams and rivulets.
- Raining cats and dogs – I think we borrowed this from the English but it means very heavy rain, rain that is so heavy, you wouldn’t be surprised to see other objects appear amongst the drops.
Have I missed any? ?Do let me know in the comments.
Just to let you know too that ‘Would You Marry A Farmer’ is now available on Amazon Kindle. The hardcovered book can be purchased here too.
photo credit: seyed mostafa zamani via photopin cc
louise mc daid
sorry… maybe its spelt teeming rain not sure!
Lorna
I’d always think of it being ‘teaming’ too but not sure either
louise mc daid
teaming rain…. very heavy rain
Roy Murray
For no. 8, in Meath, we would say it is threatening.
Lorna
Actually, we would use that terms sometimes too – don’t know why I didn’t think of it at the time 😉 I’ll remember that for the second print run :0)
Cushla
Haha! Lorna! Here in north Queensland we have a few others including some not so nice terms:
pissing with rain – very heavy rain
fairy piss – light spots
bat pee – random droplets
hammering down – when it’s so heavy you can’t hear yourself talk under the tin roof
mizzle – a misty drizzle
sheets of rain – when heavy rain has wind behind it and you can see it come across in white “sheets”
more bloody rain – I am in the tropics after all
I’m sure there are more that I’ve missed
Lorna
Wow, we will soon be up to the 40 terms for rain! Mizzle is new to me, yes we use ‘pissing down’ here too – I must have been trying to be polite when I omitted it 😉
george hughes
Two more to add to your list –
“Spilled out of the heavens”
“It pissed rain all day”
Lorna
Yes, spilled out of the heavens is a nice one isn’t it – sounds like God is up there pouring buckets down on us 😉
Imen
I know there are more that I can’t think of at the moment?but “buckets of rain” and “cloudbows” were new to me when I moved here!!
Lorna
ah, cloudbows, I totally forgot about that one – rarely used. Yep, we’ll be up to 40 in no time 🙂
Ronan A. O'Reilly
?It?s so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk!? (I got my own email address wrong, sorry)
Ronan A. O'Reilly
?It?s so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk!?
Lorna
That’s a rare one here alright! 😉
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