Down the Rabbit Hole

Where did this expression come from?

By Deane Barker • tags: literature, idiom •

It came from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The very first chapter is entitled “Down the Rabbit-Hole.”

A white rabbit appears to Alice on a riverbank, says “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!,” then disappears down a hole in the ground (the “rabbit-hole”). Alice follows him, thereby starting a surreal adventure in another land.

As an idiom, it means to spend an unexpected amount of time on a task, to reveal an unexpected amount of information about something, or to get into a situation without a clear plan to get out.

Why I Looked It Up

I had known the idiom and what it meant for years, but I have never read Alice in Wonderland. (…at the time this was written – I have since read it).

I found a bakery in Lincoln called “The Rabbit Hole Bakery.” They had a bunch of Alice imagery on the walls, and I figured the idiom had something to do with the book.

Links to this – Through the Looking Glass
This is from the title of an 1871 book: Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There . It is the sequel to Alice in Wonderland . “Looking glass” is apparently an early English term for a mirror – a “glass” into which you “look.” So, you look into a mirror to see your reflection, but if you...
Links from this – Alice's Adventures in Wonderland November 24, 2022
It’s tough to review this book. It was written 150 years ago, and I am clearly not the intended audience. It’s a children’s story, which came from a story that the author made up to tell to three young girls one afternoon. To be clear: there’s no real narrative here. The story is basically a fever...