Poor Kitties
Just looked at today's word on my Word Origin calendar:
Raining Cats and Dogs
It's one of the most common and colorful expressions in use, and it has been in use [. . .] possibly since the 1600s. Several explanations have been proposed, but the most likely is a literal description of the aftermath of a downpour, when rising water in city gutters would wash away the dead bodies of cats and dogs, in plentiful supply at that time.
Disturbing, no?