it never rains but it pours

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Attested as early as the early 18th century. The modern form of the expression first appeared in print as early as 1772. For quotations using this term, see Citations:it never rains but it pours.

Proverb

it never rains but it pours

Unfortunate events occur in quantity.
Synonym: misfortunes never come singly

Coordinate terms

bad things come in threes

Translations

unfortunate events occur in quantity

Arabic: الْمَصَائِبُ لَا تَأْتِي فُرَادَى (al-maṣāʔibu lā taʔtī furādā, literally “misfortunes do not come alone”)
Catalan: les desgràcies mai no venen soles (literally “misfortunes do not come alone”)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 屋漏偏逢連夜雨／屋漏偏逢连夜雨 (zh) (wū lòu piān féng liányè yǔ), 禍不單行／祸不单行 (zh) (huòbùdānxíng)
Czech: čert vždy kálí na velkou hromadu, neštěstí nechodí nikdy samo, (vulgar) když se to sere, tak se to sere (literally “when it shits, then it shits”)
Danish: en ulykke kommer sjældent alene (literally “a misfortune seldom comes alone”)
Dutch: een ongeluk komt zelden alleen (literally “a misfortune seldom comes alone”), een ongeluk komt nooit alleen (literally “a misfortune never comes alone”)
Esperanto: malfeliĉo malofte venas sole (literally “a misfortune seldom comes alone”)
Faroese: sjáldan er ein báran støk (literally “a wave seldome comes alone”), har ein skriðan er lopin er onnur væntandi (literally “when one landslide is over, another is waiting”), sjáldan kemur eitt óløgi einsamalt
Finnish: ei vahinko yksinään tule, kaikki on vastaan, vain saha puoltaa (literally “everything is against [me], only the saw pulls”)
French: un malheur ne vient jamais seul (fr) (literally “a misfortune never comes alone”), un malheur n’arrive jamais seul
German: ein Unglück kommt selten allein (de) (literally “a misfortune seldom comes alone”)
Hebrew: צָרוֹת בָּאוֹת בִּצְרוֹרוֹת (tzarót ba'ót bi-tz'rorót, literally “misfortunes come in packages”)
Hungarian: a baj nem jár egyedül (hu) (literally “trouble does not come alone”), csőstül jön a baj
Icelandic: sjaldan er ein báran stök (is) (literally “a wave seldome comes alone”), það er ýmist of eða van (is) (literally “it is either too much or too little”)
Italian: i guai non vengono mai da soli (literally “misfortunes never come alone”), piove sul bagnato (literally “it rains on the wet”), al peggio non c'è mai fine (literally “there is no ending to worse”)
Japanese: 踏んだり蹴ったり (ふんだりけったり, fundari-kettari, literally “we often tread on and we often bump off”), 泣きっ面に蜂 (ja) (なきっつらにはち, nakittsura ni hachi, literally “a wasp on a tearful face”), 弱り目に祟り目 (ja) (よわりめにたたりめ, yowari me ni tatari me, literally “in times of weakness, evil eyes”), 降れば土砂降り (ふればどしゃぶり, fureba doshaburi, literally “if it rains, it pours”)
Korean: 불행은 겹친다 (bulhaeng'eun gyeopchinda) (literally "misfortunes pile up")
Latin:
aliud ex aliō malum (literally “one trouble after another”)

nūlla calamitās sōla (literally “no misfortune is alone”)

Fortūna obesse nūllī contenta est semel (literally “Fortune is never satisfied with hurting a man just once”)

aliō relinquente flūctū alius excēpit (literally “one wave was letting me go, another one snatched me”)

dolor dolōrem trūdit et metus metum (literally “one sorrow presses hard on another, and one fear on another fear”)
Lithuanian: bėda viena nevaikšto (literally “trouble does not come alone”)
Luxembourgish: en Ongléck kënnt seelen eleng (literally “a misfortune seldom comes alone”)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: en ulykke kommer sjelden alene (no) (literally “a misfortune seldom comes alone”)

Nynorsk: ei ulykke kjem sjeldan aleine (literally “a misfortune seldom comes alone”)
Persian: please add this translation if you can
Polish: nieszczęścia chodzą parami (pl) (literally “misfortunes walk in pairs”)
Portuguese: um mal nunca vem só, uma desgraça nunca vem sozinha, uma desgraça nunca vem só (literally “a misfortune never comes alone”)
Romanian: o nenorocire nu vine niciodată singură
Russian: пришла́ беда́ — отворя́й воро́та (ru) (prišlá bedá — otvorjáj voróta, literally “when the trouble comes, open the gate”), беда́ одна́ не хо́дит (ru) (bedá odná ne xódit, literally “trouble does not come alone”)
Scottish Gaelic: nuair a thig air duine, thig air uile (literally “when it befalls one, it befalls all”)
Serbo-Croatian: nesreća nikada ne dolazi sama
Slovak: nešťastie nechodí samo
Slovene: nesreča ne pride nikoli sama
Spanish: las desgracias nunca vienen solas (literally “misfortunes never come alone”), cuando llueve, diluvia (literally “when it rains, it pours”), llueve sobre mojado (literally “it rains on the wet”), si no quieres caldo, taza y media (literally “if you do not want broth, a bowl and a half”), llueve sobre mojado, a perro flaco, todo son pulgas, montar un circo y crecerle los enanos, ¿no querías caldo? ¡pues toma dos tazas!, si no quieres caldo, taza y media
Swahili: please add this translation if you can
Swedish: en olycka kommer sällan ensam (literally “a misfortune seldom comes alone”), när det regnar så öser det ner (literally “when it rains, it pours”)
Thai: ความวัวไม่ทันหาย ความควายเข้ามาแทรก (th) (kwaam-wuua-mâi-tan-hǎai kwaam-kwaai-kâo-maa-sɛ̂ɛk, literally “the condition of cows does not yet cease, the condition of buffaloes comes in to join”)
Ukrainian: бі́да ні́коли сама́ не хо́дить (bída níkoly samá ne xódytʹ, literally “trouble does not come alone”)
Vietnamese: họa vô đơn chí (vi)
Walloon: on måleur ni vént måy tot seu (wa) (literally “a misfortune never comes alone”)
Welsh: helynt ni ddaw ei hunan (literally “trouble does not come by itself”)
Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

References

Gregory Y. Titelman (1996) Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, →ISBN, page 172

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