Tag Archives: Alice in Wonderland

Word-built world: Alice in Wonderland

Alice’s mad tea party, 1865 Art: John Tenniel

A.Word.A.Daywith Anu Garg

Alice in Wonderland

PRONUNCIATION:

(AL-is in WUHN-duhr-land) 

MEANING:

noun: An absurd, illogical, or fantastical situation.
adjective: Absurd, dreamlike, fantastical, or illogical.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), a children’s novel by Lewis Carroll. Earliest documented use: 1874.

NOTES:

In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice follows a rabbit down a rabbit hole into Wonderland, where she meets talking animals, vanishing cats, mad tea-partiers, murderous monarchs, and more.

When dealing with an Alice-in-Wonderland scenario, trying to apply logic will only make you mad as a hatter. Best to just embrace the absurdity before you lose your head over the details.

Another word coined after the book is Alician. Also see rabbit hole, a phrase Carroll did not coin literally, but one whose figurative life owes much to Alice’s tumble.

For words coined in the sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, see here. Also see micropsia, aka Alice in Wonderland syndrome.