Under the weather: how English uses the forecast to talk about feelings

2026-07-31 · Idiomer

England's weather is famously unreliable, and its language never recovered. English reaches for the sky to describe everything from mild illness to impossible dreams.

The forecast, translated

• Raining cats and dogs — pouring. The origin is genuinely unknown, though theories involve everything from Norse mythology to thatched roofs. What matters: it's still said, and learners love it.
• Under the weather — slightly unwell. Originally nautical: a sick sailor was sent below deck, literally under the weather.
• Every cloud has a silver lining — even bad situations contain something good. Milton coined the image in 1634; optimists have been quoting it since.
• Chase rainbows — to pursue something beautiful but impossible. The pot of gold is always one field further.

Storm systems of the mind

Weather idioms cluster around emotion because weather is the original shared experience — everyone has stood in the rain. That's why the rain & storms topic and the wind & clouds topic sit so close to feelings in Idiomer's topic graph.

Vietnamese does this too, with its own monsoon-shaped imagery — browse the rain topic and you'll find both languages side by side, from English drizzle to Vietnamese downpours.

A note for learners

Weather idioms are safe, friendly and slightly informal — the perfect first idioms to actually use in conversation. Nobody was ever offended by raining cats and dogs. Start a practice set filtered to your level and let the forecast teach you.

Want these phrases to stick? Drill them with endless practice questions →