We love it when listeners often write to us about words or phrases they’ve encountered in the news. These questions highlight how language is actually being used, and how it evolves in real time.
Eric Furst recently sent us this excerpt from historian Heather Cox Richardson's blog: "Federal agents continue to rain terror on Minneapolis, Minnesota, and other U.S. cities including Portland and Lewiston, Maine."
"Cox Richardson is a brilliant writer, and surely is playing with the more standard expression 'reign of terror,' transitioning the phrase in a way that better fits her desired imagery," Furst said. "Seeing as how rain (from the sky) is used more often in common speech, it seems possible that the original expression could be hijacked over time."
Furst thought the phrase "to rain terror" was likely a play on the more familiar expression “reign of terror," and that Cox Richardson had reshaped the phrase to better suit her imagery. "Seeing as how rain (from the sky) is used more often in common speech, it seems possible that the original expression could be hijacked over time," Furst said.
It’s a great observation, and not one we’d considered before.
Traditionally, a “reign of terror” refers to a period of oppressive rule, when those in power use fear, violence, or intimidation to control a population. The phrase goes back to the French Revolution, specifically the tumultuous period from 1793 to 1794, which came to be known as the Reign of Terror.
As a verb, "reign" is usually intransitive, meaning it isn't normally followed by an object. For example, a monarch might reign for twenty-five years or reign over a country. Historically, someone could reign a country, but that usage isn't common today.
The verb "rain" has the "water falling from the sky" meaning, but since the 1400s, "rain" has also been used in expressions like "to rain blows upon [someone]" or "to rain kisses on [someone's] head." Basically, it's used to convey the idea of something falling in great quantity or intensity.
That meaning is most likely the one conveyed by "rain" in the "to rain terror on" example our listener sent us, and it's the version you'll see most often in modern usage.
This week, we also received a question from a listener about usage of the expression "take a knee." To hear about that, listen to the audio above.
