Odin, the Norse god of storms, was often attended by dogs and wolves in stories, so that's one way we might have gotten the "dogs" part of "raining cats and dogs." But most linguists think that's not where it comes from.
The first theory has to do with mythology. But where did the saying come from in the first place? Linguists have a few different theories. Plus, cats and dogs are common house pets (and were common forms of pest control hundreds of years ago), so speaking about them as a pair seems logical. It makes sense that "polecat" became "cat," as language shifts and people drop syllables or mishear words and substitute things that make sense to them. "I know Sir John will go, though he was sure it would rain cats and dogs."In the first version, Brome references polecats, which are related to weasels. "… and it shall raine … Dogs and Polecats and so forth."Jonathan Swift used it in 1783, in A Complete Collection of Polite and Ingenious Conversation, where it took the form we recognize today: The original variant of this saying was first recorded in Richard Brome's 1651 play, The City Wit: Involving Garth would be like disturbing a sleeping dog and then getting nipped for it-an ill-advised act with an outcome that's avoidable. Eliciting his help will likely result in something more problematic than the situation they currently find themselves in, and Sam doesn't think it'll be worth it. Just this once, let sleeping dogs lie, okay?"In this instance, Sam reminds Dean that Garth is often more trouble than he's worth. Remember the unicorn incident? Frigging glitter on everything for days. If you call him, he'll want to tag along and screw things up. "Are you calling Garth? Don't do it, Dean. Which happens to be something the Winchesters of Supernatural are familiar with: If you mess with the status quo, you're inviting all kinds of trouble on yourself. He never mentioned Ashley and her love for him or made any coarse and ill-bred marks about "coveting her." She thought it best to let sleeping dogs lie, so she did not ask for an explanation of their frequent meetings.Sayings with similar meanings include "leave well enough alone" and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." In each case, the warning is clear: don't disturb things just leave them the way they are. Let sleeping dogs lie-who wants to rouse 'em?and Margaret Mitchell's classic Gone With the Wind (1936): More well-known instances of "let sleeping dogs lie" occur in works like David Copperfield (1849) by Charles Dickens: This saying has appeared in numerous literary works and publications since Chaucer's time, including a 1546 book of English proverbs by John Heywood. It is nought good a slepyng hound to wake.
It means you shouldn't ask for trouble by stirring up something which is a potential source of difficulty or grief: This proverb, like so many others, has been traced back to Geoffrey Chaucer's works, specifically his 1374 poem Troilus and Criseyde. To find out more, click through the cut and read on! With examples from Supernatural. Welcome back to Say What? Both of our sayings this time around reference dogs, but that's not really what they're about.
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