when it rains, it pours

English

Alternative forms

• it never rains but it pours

Proverb

when it rains, it pours

1. If a person encounters bad luck, more bad luck will follow.

Translations

if a person encounters bad luck, more bad luck will follow

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 屋漏偏逢連夜雨 (cmn), 屋漏偏逢连夜雨 (cmn) (wū lòu piān féng lián yè yǔ) ("When the roof is leaking, that's when you get several continuous nights of rain"), 一波未平，一波又起 (cmn), 一波未平，一波又起 (cmn) (yī bō wèi píng yī bō yòu qǐ) ("Just as one wave subsides, another one comes"; formal), 喝口涼水都能塞牙縫 (cmn), 喝口凉水都能塞牙缝 (cmn) (hē kǒu liángshuǐ dōu néng sài yáfèng) ("Even water gets stuck in your teeth"; informal)

• Czech: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: van de regen in de drop (nl)
• Finnish: kaikki on vastaan, vain saha puoltaa (fi)
• French: un malheur n'arrive jamais seul (fr)
• German: ein Unglück kommt selten allein (de)
• Hungarian: a baj nem jár egyedül (hu)

• Icelandic: sjaldan er ein báran stök (is), það er ýmist of eða van (is)
• Italian: piove sul bagnato (it)
• Japanese: 降れば土砂降り (ja) (fureba doshaburi), 踏んだり蹴ったり (ja) (ふんだりけったり, fundari kettari)
• Lithuanian: bėda viena nevaikšto (lt)
• Norwegian: en ulykke kommer sjelden alene (no) (an accident seldom comes alone)
• Polish: nieszczęścia chodzą parami (pl)
• Portuguese: uma desgraça nunca vem só (pt)
• Russian: пришла беда - отворяй ворота (ru) (prišlá bedá — otvorjáj voróta) (when trouble comes, open the gates)
• Spanish: cuando llueve, diluvia (es), llueve sobre mojado (es) (it rains on the wet)
• Swedish: när det regnar så öser det ner (sv)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

See also

• bad things come in threes
• misfortunes never come singly, misfortunes never come alone

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, ISBN 0-679-44554-4, p. 367.