līt kā pa Jāņiem

Latvian

FWOTD – 23 June 2016

līst kā pa Jāņiem

Etymology

The literal meaning is “to rain like during Jāņi (Midsummer festivities),” a holiday as important as Christmas, commonly associated with outdoors activities, during which heavy rain is expected.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lîːt kâː pa jāːɲiem/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

līt kā pa Jāņiem

1. (idiomatic) to come down in sheets, to come down in buckets

   [l]atviešiem jau ir teiciens — līst kā pa Jāņiem (..) [t]ie jau nebūtu nekādi Jāņi, ja nelītu lietus ― latvians have a saying after all — it's raining like during Jāņi (~ Midsummer festivities) it wouldn't be any Jāņi without rain

   [š]opavasar, kad Parīzē neierasti līst kā pa Jāņiem, šie divi “cilvēki kulisēs” sazvanās gandrīz vai piecas reizes dienā, lai pārliecinātos, “ka viss norit gludi” ― this spring, when unusually for Paris it is raining like during Jāņi, these two “insiders” are calling up each other almost five times a day to make sure that “everything is going smoothly”

   [ā]rā līst (..) "[k]ā pa Jāņiem", gribas sacīt, bet ir jūlija beigas (..) ― it's raining outside (..) "like during Jāņi" one wants to proclaim, it's the end of July though (..)

Usage notes

Most often used in its third-person present indicative form līst kā pa Jāņiem.