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Speaker 1: Don't worry. I'm not gonna rain on your parade today,

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even though it's pouring outside here. Nope, come rain or shine.

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I'm always excited to bring you these podcast English lessons.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight seventy. Rain

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Vocabulary and Idioms in English. Hello, and welcome and thanks

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for joining me for another episode of the Happy English Podcast.

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So it's been raining all day day here in northern Japan.

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And I don't mean a little drizzle. I'm talking full on,

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umbrella snapping, puddle jumping, drenched by the time you get

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to the train kind of rain. Seriously, it was a downpour.

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And you know what, that kind of weather always makes

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me think about how we talk about rain in English.

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So today I thought we'd take a look at some

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natural rain vocabulary, along with some really common idioms and

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phrases that native speakers use when the skies open up.

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Sound good, Let's dive in. No rain code required. Let's

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start with the basics of heavy rain vocabulary. If it's

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raining just a little, you can say it's drizzling drizzle.

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We used the verb drizzle when we talk about light rain,

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like it's gonna drizzle this afternoon. And with this image

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at a restaurant, they may drizzle a little chocolate sauce

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on your cheesecake. It's the same image, like just a

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little liquid. But today, Nah, this wasn't a drizzle. It

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was pouring, like totally soaked shoes. I actually stepped outside

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and thought, man, this isn't just pouring, it's teeming rain.

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And here's the nuance. Pouring just means heavy rain in general.

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But when I say it's teaming, it gives that feeling

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of rain coming straight down, like there's no wind at all,

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just sheets of water falling from the sky. It was

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team this morning. Of course, there's another casual way we

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talk about this kind of rain. It's coming down in buckets.

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I love that one. It sounds like the sky is

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literally dumping water on us. And yeah, that's how it

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felt this morning. When you get caught in that kind

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of weather, you're not a little wet and you're not

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lightly moist. You're soaked or drenched or soaking wet, like

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I only walked from the train station to the office

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maybe three minutes, and I was already drenched, or my

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sneakers are still soaking wet from walking Rosy this morning. Yeah,

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that kind of day. And so I had plans to

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meet a friend in the park this afternoon, but yep,

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my plans got rained out. That's what we say when

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an event gets canceled because of rain. Baseball games, outdoor concerts, barbecues.

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If the weather doesn't cooperate, we say it was rained

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out or it got rained out. It's a really common phrase,

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like our school's field day got rained out, so they

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moved it to next week, or the fireworks were rained

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out last fourth of July. Speaking of canceled plans, here's

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another one you've probably heard. Can I take a rain check?

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This one also comes from baseball. Let me tell you

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what I mean. Back in the day, when a game

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got canceled because of the weather, they would give fans

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special replacement tickets called rain checks, and they used these

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rain checks as tickets to attend the rescheduled game. Then

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supermarkets started using rain checks when an item is on

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sale but it gets sold out, they give the customers

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rain checks that they can use to buy the item

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with the sale price when it's back in stock. So

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a rain check has the meaning that you can get

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what you expected or what you wanted at a later date.

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In modern American English, we use the phrase raincheck two

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politely rescheduled plans. Let's say someone invites you out for dinner,

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but you're super busy at work or school. You can

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say something like, I'd love to have dinner, but I

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have to work late. Can I take a rain check?

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It's friendly, it's polite, and it sounds natural. Actually, a

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student just said that to me last week. We were

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supposed to do a lesson, but something came up and

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she messaged me, Oh, Michael, can I take a rain

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check on today's lesson? Perfect use. You can also cancel

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your plans with someone by saying something like this, Sorry,

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I have to give you a rain check on our

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lunch plans today. I have to bring my kid to

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the doctor. Yeah, you can take a rain check or

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offer a rain check. It's a bit disappointing to have

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to cancel plans, but at least with a raincheck, those

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plans are just put off and speaking of disappointments. Here's

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an idiom I really like, mostly because it's so visual.

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Don't rain on my parade. Imagine you're all happy, you've

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got your plans, your vibe is good, and then someone

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just dumps negativity all over it. That's raining on your parade.

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A parade is a fun, happy event, right, but if

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it rains, yuck. Like I got a new student at

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the B one level who told me, oh, I think

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I can get an eight hundred on the TOIC in

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one month. Now. I don't want to rain on her parade,

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but I did give her a realistic study plan. Sometimes

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we have to be honest, but still let people celebrate,

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you know. And if you have to disappoint someone, you

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can use this idiom like I know you were thinking

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about going home early today, but I'm sorry to rain

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on your parade. It seems like the boss wants this

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project finished today. He said, come rain or shine. I

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want it done. Come rain or shine. Now, this one

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is all about commitment. If you do something no matter what,

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whether the weather is great or terrible, this is your phrase.

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Like I walk my dog every morning, Come rain or

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shine or one of my students studies thirty minutes every night,

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rain or shine. That's dedication, so it doesn't necessarily have

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to do it the weather. We use it literally like

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the street fair will be held come rain or shine,

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or figuratively like I will be able to read a

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newspaper in Japanese by next year. Come rain or shine.

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I'm determined. And hey, if you're the kind of person

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who always shows up on time for your English lesson,

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yeah you show up, Come rain or shine, even if

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the lesson is online. And this next one, I think

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we've all been there. When it rains it pours, it

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doesn't actually mean rain here. It means when one bad

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thing happens. When it rains, everything goes wrong at once.

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It pours. Like the other day, I overslept and then

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I spilled coffee on my shirt. Of course I missed

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my train, and then my cell phone died all before

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nine am. I just laughed and said, well, when it rains,

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it pours, or we lost a big client, two co

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workers got sick, and the AC broke in the office. Yep,

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when it rains, it pours. Not the happiest idiom, but

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a good one to know. And before we wrap up,

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let's talk about a classic phrase you've probably heard a

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million times, it's raining cats and dogs. I think this

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idiom shows up in like every English textbook. Yeah, people

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know it, but honestly it sounds a little old fashioned

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or kind of like something your old uncle might say

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while wearing sandals with socks. I feel like these days

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most Native speakers don't actually use it. So if you

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want to sound more natural on a rainy day, go

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with one of the phrases we looked at earlier in

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this lesson, like it's pouring or it's coming down in buckets.

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Those sound more current and more like the English you'll

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actually hear on the street. So there you have it,

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rain vocabulary and idioms that'll help you talk about the

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weather like a Native speaker. Let's recap. When it's raining hard,

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you can say it's pouring, teeming or coming down in buckets.

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And if you get caught in that weather then you

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get soaked, drenched or you're soaking wet. That event, well

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it got rained out. You can't make it. Then give

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or take a rain check and always try to stay positive.

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Don't rain on someone's parade. And when you show up,

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no matter what, that's come rain or shine. But when

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everything goes wrong, well, when it rains, it pours well.

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Thanks for listening to this podcast English lesson Come rain

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or shine. Keep in mind the best way to remember

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English like this and any other word or phrase in English,

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is to take that word or phrase, write it in

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a sentence that's true for you or true in your world,

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and then memorize your sentences. And if you really want

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to speak English better and feel good about your English,

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you should join my Podcast Learners study group. I meet

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with a small group of English learners like you each

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week where we practice these podcasts lessons together. It's a

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lot of fun and everyone is really improving. You can too.

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To learn more, Just click the link in the app

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where you are listening to this podcast now, or visit

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Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson eight seventy. Remember,

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learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible,

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and I'm here to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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