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

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

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
Entered by:	Catharine Cellier-Smart

12:19 Oct 19, 2010

French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

French term or phrase: C'est le diable qui rosse sa moitie et qui marie sa fille

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?

JennyAnne KudoZ activity Questions: 2 (none open) Answers: 0
Local time: 17:12

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

Explanation:
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 !

Selected response from:

Catharine Cellier-Smart
Reunion
Local time: 20:12

Grading comment

Many thanks for this! Now I just need to decide whether or not to translate it literally.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +2

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

Carol Gullidge

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

Catharine Cellier-Smart

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

8 mins confidence:

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

Catharine Cellier-Smart
Reunion
Local time: 20:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12

Grading comment

Many thanks for this! Now I just need to decide whether or not to translate it literally.

27 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

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

Explanation:
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.

Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:12
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 47

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you for this! It was really helpful, and interesting to see that we have such a similar phrase in English.

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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

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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

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