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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

C'est le diable qui rosse sa moitie et qui marie sa fille

English translation:

It's raining and the sun is shining at the same time

Added to glossary by Catharine Cellier-Smart
Oct 19, 2010 12:19
13 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

C'est le diable qui rosse sa moitie et qui marie sa fille

French to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
I've come across this phrase in a literary text I'm translating. An old peasant woman is describing how a storm which has been raging for hours, is now calming down. She says this after looking at the sky. Could anyone explain what it means, or tell me if it's a familiar expression in French?
Proposed translations (English)
3 It's raining and the sun is shining {at the same time}
3 +2 It looks like the devil is beating/thrashing his wife/{better half} and marrying his daughter
Change log

Oct 19, 2010 12:23: Robert Forstag changed "Language pair" from "English" to "French to English" , "Field (specific)" from "Poetry & Literature" to "Genealogy"

Oct 19, 2010 12:35: Travelin Ann changed "Field (specific)" from "Genealogy" to "Idioms / Maxims / Sayings"

Oct 26, 2010 13:39: Catharine Cellier-Smart Created KOG entry

Discussion

jmleger Oct 19, 2010:
I vaguely remember an expression like this It's not very common i would say, and i would further venture that it is a regional expression come from a time when 1) people actually had the devil on their mind a lot and 2) the various regions of France were far enough apart to develop their own idiosyncratic expressions (not to mention languages and patois).
Travelin Ann Oct 19, 2010:
In US EN, particularly from the south, there is a similar saying, used when the sun is shining, and it is raining at the same time. "The devil is beating is wife." See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshower for the French version
"Le diable bat sa femme et marie sa fille"

Proposed translations

8 mins
Selected

It's raining and the sun is shining {at the same time}

This is what it means literally, but I don't know if you're looking for a more poetic translation or just the meaning.

I wouldn't say it's a very familiar expression (in almost 20 years I've rarely heard it - but maybe rain and sun at the same time didn't happen much where I was living !)

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Note added at 16 mins (2010-10-19 12:36:16 GMT)
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I would recommend this interesting Wikipedia article on the subject, of which the text below is just an excerpt :

"A sunshower or sun shower is an unusual meteorological phenomenon in which rain falls while the sun is shining ... The term "sunshower" is used in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and parts of Britain, but is rarely found in dictionaries. Additionally, the phenomenon has a wide range of sometimes remarkably similar folkloric names in cultures around the world. A common theme is that of trickster animals, or the devil, getting married, although many variations of parts of this theme exist."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshower

They give lots of example of this expression around the world - I'm sure you could find one which would suit your translation !
Peer comment(s):
neutral mimi 254 : the storm has been raging for hours and is now calming down - it wasn't raining and sun shining at the same time!
14 mins
I don't agree - the expression means rain and sun at the same time (see ref. above).
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks for this! Now I just need to decide whether or not to translate it literally."
+2
27 mins

It looks like the devil is beating/thrashing his wife/{better half} and marrying his daughter

as this is an old peasant woman AND it's a literary text, I'd tend to opt for the more colourful, albeit somewhat literal, translation - especially as this expression does seem to exist (in both languages!)
If you wished to make it more humourous, you could substitute "better half" for "wife"

See Urban Dictionary:- "devil is beating his wife" expression is used to describe the weather when it is raining and sunny, also referred to as a "sunshower."
"Looks like the devil is beating his wife today," muttered the old coot as he felt the rain hit the back of his neck.

Note from asker:
Thank you for this! It was really helpful, and interesting to see that we have such a similar phrase in English.
Peer comment(s):
agree Alison Sabedoria (X) : Good for rainbows - happens a lot at the end of storms here.
1 hr
many thanks Wordeffect! I guess it's the same everywhere!
agree Charlie Bavington : perhaps "marrying off", or something else to avoid the ambiguous connotations of incestous bigamy in the word "marry" alone here....
9 hrs
many thanks Charlie! Yes, I always think that when the priest is marrying his parishioners :O)
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