Prší, prší! 5 Czech idioms for heavy rainfall

In English, it's raining cats and dogs. What happens in the Czech language when a hard rain's a-gonna fall?

Katrina Modrá

Written by Katrina Modrá Published on 22.05.2019 08:26:00 (updated on 08.12.2021) Reading time: 1 minute

In English, it’s raining cats and dogs, or buckets of rain if you’re a Dylan fan. What happens in the Czech language when a hard rain’s a-gonna fall?

It’s raining as if from a pot.

Venku lije jako z hrnce.

It’s raining as if from a watering can.

Venku lije jako z konve.

It’s pissing and pissing.

Chčije a chčije (Fans of the 1976 Czech film Na samotě u lesa will appreciate this one)!


It’s raining as if from a water pipe.

Venku lije jako z roury.

It’s raining wheelbarrows.

Padají trakaře.

Misc. rain-related vocabulary

Czechs even have a special verb moknout, or “to be out in the rain.”

In Czech, the verb rozpršet se: means “to begin to rain hard.”

When something begins to pop up uncontrollably, luxury condos, malls, for instance, this occurrence can be described in Czech as “springing up like mushrooms after the rain” (Rostou nám tak jako houby po dešti).

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