when it rains it pours

Question

When it rains it pours.Is it OK to say the above?Thanks.

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

It is okay. Do you understand the meaning of the idiom?

New2grammar · Answer

Is it an idiom? I made it up. Let me look it up.

BarbaraPA · Answer

It sure is! http://www.bartleby.com/59/3/whenitrainsi.html

(It was also the slogan for a salt company - even when it rains and it's humid, their salt still pours freely without getting clumped together.)

New2grammar · Answer

This is what I found. It has both literal and figurative meanings. I meant the first but now I've learned the figurative one as well.Thanks, GG. By the way, can I say, "It has been raining on and off for a week now. When it rains it pours"?

When it rains, it pours describes how after there has been no rain for a long time, it suddenly rains a lot all at once. Example: "It hadn't rained for over two months. Now it has started raining and it has been raining for a week straight." Reply: "When it rains, it pours."

When it rains, it pours means that once something happens after a long pause, it happens in large amounts. Example: "It looks like everyone in our department is sick again, and all at the same time." Reply: "When it rains, it pours."

When there is a lot of rain all at once we say that it is pouring. Some people say, It never rains, but it pours; the meaning is the same as When it rains, it pours. Example: "Sometimes we have no customers for two or three hours, then suddenly we get 20 people all at once." Reply: "It never rains, but it pours."

when it rains it pours

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