OED: "monkey's wedding"

[Neal Whitman]

I learned "the devil is beating his wife" from a neighbor in El Paso, Texas in 1982.

I also note that CCR found "the rain coming down on a sunny day" unusual enough to write a song asking if you had ever seen it.

Neal

On Dec 2, 2012, at 10:02 AM, Alice Faber <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Alice Faber <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU>
> Organization: Haskins Laboratories
> Subject:      Re: OED: "monkey's wedding"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 12/2/12 8:34 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> My grandmother told me about "sunshowers" ca1952.
>>
>> I thought it was weird that it could rain while the sun was shining. IMO,
>> sunshowers are very brief.
>>
>> I've read (but never heard) "The devil is beating his wife."  I've never
>> seen an explanation of it.
>>
>
> "Sunshowers" is the term I was familiar with, growing up in the NY area
> in the 50s/60s. When I moved to Texas for grad school, I was told about
> "the devil is beating his wife" as a quintessential Texas expression,
> although I don't think I ever heard it "in the wild".
>
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