[General] rain hang about

[Silverobama]

Hi.

I looked at the dark cloud and said to my mom "There is rain hanging about". I wonder if the italic sentence is natural and means "It is going to rain".

 

[jutfrank]

No, it's not right at all. Say this:

It looks like it's going to rain.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

And in the US, we usually just say, "It looks like rain."

You might be wondering about the expression hang around. It refers to people who are lingering or idling, not doing anything:

- Dagwood likes to hang around the water cooler and gab with his coworkers.

- I don't usually shop when I go to the mall. I just like hanging around there.

(Oops. I just noticed my typos and fixed them. Sorry.)

 

[Rover_KE]

We say that in the UK, too.

 

[emsr2d2]

At a stretch, you could say "There are some rainclouds hanging about".

 

[Skrej]

If anything, 'There's rain hanging about' (although not very natural) would suggest that there's currently rain or rain showers that won't stop.

 

[Tdol]

At a stretch, you could say "There are some rainclouds hanging about".

It's a stretch that isn't worth it IMO.