Use Your English Quiz Time 9

C1 Advanced Use of English Column

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C1 Advanced Use of English

C1 Use of English Quick Quiz

Do You Remember?

Revise the previous quiz from our Advanced Use of English column. Good luck!

We hope our fortnight quizzes will do the trick. Not only will they help you step out of your comfort zone as an English learner, they will also enhance your English proficiency in the Cambridge C1 Advanced exam. Whatever the case might be ;), just try all out and you will get there!

Time to dive into the origins of an idiom!

In the limelight today:

Idiom origin

RAIN CATS AND DOGS

Meaning

To rain very heavily, often in a sudden and unexpected way.

Example

We were planning a picnic in the park, but the weather suddenly changed, and it started raining cats and dogs, so we had to cancel our plans.

Origin

It comes from the time when houses had thatched roofs. When it rained heavily, animals such as cats and dogs would seek shelter on the roofs, and as the rain continued, some of the animals would fall through the thatch and into the house, hence the expression “raining cats and dogs”. Another theory suggests that the phrase is derived from the Old English word “catadupe”, which means “waterfall”, and may have been used to describe heavy rain. 

You’ve armed yourself with your daily dose of knowledge, have you! Now you do deserve a study break!

Stay tuned for more words of advice and handy material!

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