VOA慢速英语2021--Falling 'Down the Rabbit Hole'

And now, welcome to Words and Their Stories, a program that explores words and expressions in the English language. On this program, we give examples and notes on usage¹. And when available, we sometimes explain where they come from.

On today's program, we are going to talk about rabbits.

Rabbits, like many other animals, dig holes and complex underground passages, like tunnels, to build their homes. So, when rabbits want to go home, they must go down the rabbit hole. And that may lead to other holes, tunnels, and paths, or even other rabbit homes.

In English, we use the expression down the rabbit hole when we get so caught up in the search for something – like an answer to a problem – that we end up somewhere totally different.

The Internet is an easy way to get lost down the rabbit hole.

For this Words and Their Stories, my search for "down the rabbit hole" returned the video game "Down the Rabbit Hole." The animation² was so beautiful! I had to find out more about who drew the images for the game.

A few more clicks led me to a website about learning³ how to draw children's books. Let's talk about children's books. Do you know there is a famous book festival in the Italian city of Bologna? After an hour and many more clicks, I found myself watching a YouTube video on how to make the meat sauce Bolognese.

In other words, I had fallen down a rabbit hole and wasted an hour. But, at least, I got an idea for dinner!

Here are some notes on usage.

We often describe what kind of rabbit hole we get lost in. For example, if you get completely overtaken⁴ by your research on climate change, you could say you "went down an environmental rabbit hole."

There are many verbs that you can use along with "rabbit hole." You can get lost, fall down or get stuck in a rabbit hole.

But where did this come from?

Well, the expression comes from the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland written by Lewis Carroll in 1865. Alice, the girl in the story, begins her adventure by falling and falling and falling down a very long rabbit hole. She falls slowly and sees things on the way down – strange things. And when she arrives at the bottom things only get stranger.

And that is another way we use this expression. It can describe a completely strange situation or an all-consuming situation. By all-consuming, I mean a situation where you lose touch with reality. You lose yourself a bit.

For example, once on a trip to Coney Island, New York, I got lost and ended up in a very strange place. There was a play going on and everyone was dressed up. A band was playing strange music and the lights were all different colors. I had definitely⁵ fallen into a rabbit hole! But this time it was Anna's Adventures in Wonderland!

And that's all the adventure we have for you today.

Words in This Story

animation – n. a way of making a movie by using a series of drawings, computer graphics⁶, or photographs of objects (such as puppets⁷ or models) that are slightly different from one another and that when viewed quickly one after another create the appearance of movement

click – n. the act of selecting something on a computer screen by pressing a button on a mouse or some other device⁸

climate change – n. significant⁹ and long-lasting change in the Earth's climate and weather patterns

adventure – n. an exciting or remarkable experience

1 usage   

n.惯用法，使用，用法

参考例句：

• I am clear about the usage of this word at last.这个词的用法我算是弄明白了。
• The usage is now firmly established.这种用法现已得到确认。

2 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

3 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

4 overtaken   

v.追上，赶上，超过( overtake的过去分词 )；（不愉快的事情）突然发生；突然降临；（在数量或重要性方面）大于

参考例句：

• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Exports have already overtaken last year's figure. 出口量已超过了去年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

6 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。

7 puppets   

n.木偶( puppet的名词复数 )；玩偶；受他人操纵的人或集团；傀儡

参考例句：

• They were mere puppets manipulated by other men. 他们只不过是受人操纵的傀儡而已。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The children I was looking after were interested in puppets. 我那时照看的孩子们对木偶感兴趣。 来自辞典例句

8 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

9 significant   

adj.相当数量的；意义重大的；意味深长的

参考例句：

• Your success today may be significant for your whole future.你今天的成功对你的整个未来可能是重要的。
• She cast him a significant smile.她向他投去意味深长的一笑。