it never rains but it pours
it never rains but it pours
When something good or bad happens, similarly good or bad things tend to follow. After months of looking for a job, I suddenly have three job interviews this week. It never rains but it pours. Everyone in my house is sick right now because it never rains but it pours.
See also: but, never, pour, rain
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
It never rains but it pours.
Prov. Good (or bad) things do not just happen a few at a time, but in large numbers all at once. Fred: I can't believe this. This morning I had a flat tire. When I went to the garage to get the tire patched, I discovered I didn't have any money, and I couldn't even charge it because my credit card's expired. Jane: It never rains but it pours.
See also: but, never, pour, rain
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
it never rains but it pours
When something occurs it often does so to excess. For example, First Aunt Sue said she and Uncle Harry were coming for the weekend and then my sister and her children said they were coming too-it never rains but it pours . This expression may have come from either a book by Queen Anne's physician, John Arbuthnot, or an article by Jonathan Swift, both entitled It Cannot Rain But It Pours and both published in 1726.
See also: but, never, pour, rain
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
it never rains but it pours
People say it never rains but it pours to mean that when one bad thing happens, other bad things often happen too and make the situation worse. It was an interesting year — Danny lost his job, I was off sick for three months and Josh broke his leg. It never rains but it pours, as they say!
See also: but, never, pour, rain
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
it never rains but it pours
misfortunes or difficult situations tend to follow each other in rapid succession or to arrive all at the same time.See also: but, never, pour, rain
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
it never ˌrains but it ˈpours
(British English) (American English when it ˌrains, it ˈpours) (saying) when one thing goes wrong, so do others: It never rains but it pours! First I found that the car had been stolen and then I lost the keys to my office.See also: but, never, pour, rain
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
it never rains but it pours
When something happens, it often happens to excess. This proverbial expression originated in 1726 from a twice-used title, It Cannot Rain But It Pours, an article by Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope (in Prose Miscellanies) and a book by John Arbuthnot. It is not known if they happened on it by coincidence or if one copied from the other, or if the phrase was already well known. It was used by numerous writers thereafter, among them Thomas Gray, Charles Kingsley, and Anthony Trollope, and has since attained proverbial status. A play on it was made in a 1911 advertising slogan for Morton salt—“when it rains it pours”—assuring consumers that dampness would not prevent this product from flowing freely.
See also: but, never, pour, rain
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- separate the sheep from the goats
- separate the sheep from the goats, to
- sort out/separate the sheep from the goats
- a curate's egg
- curate
- curate's egg
- have a bad opinion of (someone or something)
- have a good, bad, high, low, etc. opinion of somebody/something
- term
- story of my life, the