līt kā pa Jāņiem

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Latvian

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līst kā pa Jāņiem

Etymology

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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

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  • IPA(key): /lîːt kâː pa jāːɲiem/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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līt 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 lietuslatvians have a saying after all — it's raining like during Jāņi (~ Midsummer festivities) it wouldn't be any Jāņi without rain[1]
    [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”[2]
    [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 (..)[3]

Usage notes

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

References

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  1. ^ Adolfs Stamguts (1999) Latvietis sabiedroto gūstā un trimdā, page 49
  2. ^ (2001) Māksla plus, issues 1–6
  3. ^ (1992) Karogs, issues 1–4, page 212