Down the Rabbit Hole, origins and meanings

illustration by Andy McNally

“Down the Rabbit hole” is an English language expression which refers to getting deep into something or ending up somewhere strange. Lewis Carroll introduced the phrase in his 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The phrase was the title of chapter one of the book. Alice follows a white rabbit and falls down a rabbit hole. She ends up in a strange world, “Wonderland.”