Speaker 1: Don't worry. I'm not gonna rain on your parade today,
even though it's pouring outside here. Nope, come rain or shine.
I'm always excited to bring you these podcast English lessons.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight seventy. Rain
Vocabulary and Idioms in English. Hello, and welcome and thanks
for joining me for another episode of the Happy English Podcast.
So it's been raining all day day here in northern Japan.
And I don't mean a little drizzle. I'm talking full on,
umbrella snapping, puddle jumping, drenched by the time you get
to the train kind of rain. Seriously, it was a downpour.
And you know what, that kind of weather always makes
me think about how we talk about rain in English.
So today I thought we'd take a look at some
natural rain vocabulary, along with some really common idioms and
phrases that native speakers use when the skies open up.
Sound good, Let's dive in. No rain code required. Let's
start with the basics of heavy rain vocabulary. If it's
raining just a little, you can say it's drizzling drizzle.
We used the verb drizzle when we talk about light rain,
like it's gonna drizzle this afternoon. And with this image
at a restaurant, they may drizzle a little chocolate sauce
on your cheesecake. It's the same image, like just a
little liquid. But today, Nah, this wasn't a drizzle. It
was pouring, like totally soaked shoes. I actually stepped outside
and thought, man, this isn't just pouring, it's teeming rain.
And here's the nuance. Pouring just means heavy rain in general.
But when I say it's teaming, it gives that feeling
of rain coming straight down, like there's no wind at all,
just sheets of water falling from the sky. It was
team this morning. Of course, there's another casual way we
talk about this kind of rain. It's coming down in buckets.
I love that one. It sounds like the sky is
literally dumping water on us. And yeah, that's how it
felt this morning. When you get caught in that kind
of weather, you're not a little wet and you're not
lightly moist. You're soaked or drenched or soaking wet, like
I only walked from the train station to the office
maybe three minutes, and I was already drenched, or my
sneakers are still soaking wet from walking Rosy this morning. Yeah,
that kind of day. And so I had plans to
meet a friend in the park this afternoon, but yep,
my plans got rained out. That's what we say when
an event gets canceled because of rain. Baseball games, outdoor concerts, barbecues.
If the weather doesn't cooperate, we say it was rained
out or it got rained out. It's a really common phrase,
like our school's field day got rained out, so they
moved it to next week, or the fireworks were rained
out last fourth of July. Speaking of canceled plans, here's
another one you've probably heard. Can I take a rain check?
This one also comes from baseball. Let me tell you
what I mean. Back in the day, when a game
got canceled because of the weather, they would give fans
special replacement tickets called rain checks, and they used these
rain checks as tickets to attend the rescheduled game. Then
supermarkets started using rain checks when an item is on
sale but it gets sold out, they give the customers
rain checks that they can use to buy the item
with the sale price when it's back in stock. So
a rain check has the meaning that you can get
what you expected or what you wanted at a later date.
In modern American English, we use the phrase raincheck two
politely rescheduled plans. Let's say someone invites you out for dinner,
but you're super busy at work or school. You can
say something like, I'd love to have dinner, but I
have to work late. Can I take a rain check?
It's friendly, it's polite, and it sounds natural. Actually, a
student just said that to me last week. We were
supposed to do a lesson, but something came up and
she messaged me, Oh, Michael, can I take a rain
check on today's lesson? Perfect use. You can also cancel
your plans with someone by saying something like this, Sorry,
I have to give you a rain check on our
lunch plans today. I have to bring my kid to
the doctor. Yeah, you can take a rain check or
offer a rain check. It's a bit disappointing to have
to cancel plans, but at least with a raincheck, those
plans are just put off and speaking of disappointments. Here's
an idiom I really like, mostly because it's so visual.
Don't rain on my parade. Imagine you're all happy, you've
got your plans, your vibe is good, and then someone
just dumps negativity all over it. That's raining on your parade.
A parade is a fun, happy event, right, but if
it rains, yuck. Like I got a new student at
the B one level who told me, oh, I think
I can get an eight hundred on the TOIC in
one month. Now. I don't want to rain on her parade,
but I did give her a realistic study plan. Sometimes
we have to be honest, but still let people celebrate,
you know. And if you have to disappoint someone, you
can use this idiom like I know you were thinking
about going home early today, but I'm sorry to rain
on your parade. It seems like the boss wants this
project finished today. He said, come rain or shine. I
want it done. Come rain or shine. Now, this one
is all about commitment. If you do something no matter what,
whether the weather is great or terrible, this is your phrase.
Like I walk my dog every morning, Come rain or
shine or one of my students studies thirty minutes every night,
rain or shine. That's dedication, so it doesn't necessarily have
to do it the weather. We use it literally like
the street fair will be held come rain or shine,
or figuratively like I will be able to read a
newspaper in Japanese by next year. Come rain or shine.
I'm determined. And hey, if you're the kind of person
who always shows up on time for your English lesson,
yeah you show up, Come rain or shine, even if
the lesson is online. And this next one, I think
we've all been there. When it rains it pours, it
doesn't actually mean rain here. It means when one bad
thing happens. When it rains, everything goes wrong at once.
It pours. Like the other day, I overslept and then
I spilled coffee on my shirt. Of course I missed
my train, and then my cell phone died all before
nine am. I just laughed and said, well, when it rains,
it pours, or we lost a big client, two co
workers got sick, and the AC broke in the office. Yep,
when it rains, it pours. Not the happiest idiom, but
a good one to know. And before we wrap up,
let's talk about a classic phrase you've probably heard a
million times, it's raining cats and dogs. I think this
idiom shows up in like every English textbook. Yeah, people
know it, but honestly it sounds a little old fashioned
or kind of like something your old uncle might say
while wearing sandals with socks. I feel like these days
most Native speakers don't actually use it. So if you
want to sound more natural on a rainy day, go
with one of the phrases we looked at earlier in
this lesson, like it's pouring or it's coming down in buckets.
Those sound more current and more like the English you'll
actually hear on the street. So there you have it,
rain vocabulary and idioms that'll help you talk about the
weather like a Native speaker. Let's recap. When it's raining hard,
you can say it's pouring, teeming or coming down in buckets.
And if you get caught in that weather then you
get soaked, drenched or you're soaking wet. That event, well
it got rained out. You can't make it. Then give
or take a rain check and always try to stay positive.
Don't rain on someone's parade. And when you show up,
no matter what, that's come rain or shine. But when
everything goes wrong, well, when it rains, it pours well.
Thanks for listening to this podcast English lesson Come rain
or shine. Keep in mind the best way to remember
English like this and any other word or phrase in English,
is to take that word or phrase, write it in
a sentence that's true for you or true in your world,
and then memorize your sentences. And if you really want
to speak English better and feel good about your English,
you should join my Podcast Learners study group. I meet
with a small group of English learners like you each
week where we practice these podcasts lessons together. It's a
lot of fun and everyone is really improving. You can too.
To learn more, Just click the link in the app
where you are listening to this podcast now, or visit
Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson eight seventy. Remember,
learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible,
and I'm here to help you on your journey.
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