it never rains but it pours

Idioms  

1. When something occurs it often does so to excess. For example, First Aunt Sue said she and Uncle Harry were coming for the weekend and then my sister and her children said they were coming too—it never rains but it pours. This expression may have come from either a book by Queen Anne's physician, John Arbuthnot, or an article by Jonathan Swift, both entitled It Cannot Rain But It Pours and both published in 1726.

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Example Sentences

In our generous vocabulary it never rains but it pours.

From Reading the Weather by Longstreth, Thomas Morris

But," and he sighed, "it never rains but it pours.

From Dry Fish and Wet Tales from a Norwegian Seaport by Nilsen, Anthon Bernhard Elias

As if to verify the adage that "it never rains but it pours," a messenger came from the chiefs of the Choctaw Nation offering the services of all their warriors for the campaign.

From Red Eagle and the Wars With the Creek Indians of Alabama. by Eggleston, George Cary

It is said that "it never rains but it pours," and this seemed to be the case with the sudden turn in the tide of good luck that had set in toward our unfortunate friends.

From Lost in the Ca?on by Calhoun, Alfred R.

Sukey," she exclaimed to that worthy woman, "it never rains but it pours.

From The Time of Roses by Meade, L. T.