A useful idiomatic expression for indicating something is absolutely certain or blatantly obvious is Non ci piove.
Non ci piove!
No doubt about it!
The literal translation of this phrase is It doesn’t rain on it, with piove meaning “it rains” and the particle ci meaning “on it.” Some possible English equivalents include:
- There’s no doubt about it!
- That’s for sure!
- You can say that again!
- Obviously!
It’s often expressed as Su questo non ci piove—literally “on this it doesn’t rain”—which adds extra emphasis.
A quasi tutti gli italiani piace la pizza! – Eh sì, su questo non ci piove!
Almost all Italians like pizza! – Yes, you can say that again!
According to the online magazine L’Italo Americano, the origins of this expression are unknown, but that hasn’t stopped linguists from making educated guesses.
One popular theory is that, just as rain is unpredictable and uncontrollable, something that is certain is as stable and unchanging as the absence of rain.
Another theory suggests that stable and secure structures, like an umbrella or a roof, offer certain protection from the rain, whereas something less stable, like a rickety shack or a run-down bus stop, do not.
Regardless of its actual origin, the expression is widely used and will make you sound like a native speaker if you use it correctly!
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
