chover canivete
Portuguese
Alternative forms
Etymology
Literally: “to rain pocketknives”.
Verb
- (idiomatic, Brazil) to rain pitchforks; to rain cats and dogs (to rain heavily)
- Começou a chover canivetes de manhã.
- It began raining pitchforks in the morning.
- (idiomatic, Brazil) for something catastrophic to occur; used in the format “pode chover canivete mas ...” (It could rain pocketknives but ...), “... nem que chova canivete” (... even if pocketknives rain), or similar, to indicate that something else will occur no matter what
- Não saio daqui nem que chova canivetes.
- I won’t leave this place no matter what.
- (idiomatic, Brazil) used to indicate that something very unlikely happened
- Ganhamos o jogo?! Agora vai chover canivete.
- We won the game?! It will rain pocketknives now.