dogs bark, cats meow

From dogs + bark (verb) + cats + meow (verb).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɒɡz ˈbɑːk | kæts miˈaʊ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɔɡz ˈbɑɹk | kæts miˈaʊ/, (cot–caught merger) /dɑɡz-/

• Audio (General American):

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dogs bark, cats meow

1. (idiomatic, humorous, informal) Used to introduce something seen as inevitable or totally commonplace.
   • 1961 May 28, Unbrainwashed [pseudonym], “Readers in council: No religious freedom in USSR [letter]”, in Kazushige Hirasawa, editor, The Japan Times, Tokyo: The Japan Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 8, column 8:

     One of the world's hardest tasks is to convince innocent, liberal minded Christians, intellectuals and opinion-makers in the mass-communication media that Communists mean just what they say. They believe airplanes fly, boats sail, dogs bark, cats meow and rain falls … but after reading documents like the above, somehow they manage to put on rose colored glasses and parrot half truths like "there is freedom of religion in Communist countries, churches are free from government control, all is sweetness and light."

   • 1986, Bill Warren, “1962 [The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)]”, in Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, volume II (1958–1962), Jefferson, N.C.; London: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 616:

     He's surprised to learn she knows he drinks too much. "It's in the Met Centre facts of life file," she says; "dogs bark, cats meow and Stenning drinks."

   • 2009, Linda P. Kozar, Dannelle Woody, “Nature versus Nurture”, in Babes with a Beatitude: Devotions for Smart, Savvy Women of Faith, New York, N.Y.: Howard Books, →ISBN, page 146:

     You know what they say: dogs bark, cats meow, and sinners sin. Sinning comes natural to us. That's why we are in constant war with our flesh.