when it rains, it pours

English

Proverb

when it rains, it pours

1. Unfortunate events occur in streaks or clusters, often in short periods of time.

Synonyms

• it never rains but it pours
• misfortunes never come singly

Translations

bad events come in clusters

• Indonesian: ada nasi di balik kerak
• Japanese: 悪いことは重なります, 悪いことは重なります (warui koto wa kasanarimasu, literally “bad things pile up”)

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman (1996) Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, →ISBN, page 172