這些英語中的常用語,都是因爲一本童話流行起來的大綱

1. DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

進入未知的天地

Down the rabbit hole is a metaphor for adventure into the unknown. This phrase “started appearing almost immediately after the book was first published” in 1865, says Carolyn Vega, curator of the Morgan Library’s exhibit "Alice: 150 Years of Wonderland".

Down the rabbit hole（掉進兔子洞）指一場未知的冒險。摩根圖書館《愛麗絲：150年的仙境》展覽的策展人卡洛琳?韋加表示，在1865年《愛麗絲夢遊仙境》出版之後，down the rabbit hole這種說法幾乎立刻出現了。

2. MAD AS A HATTER

瘋瘋癲癲

Mad as a hatter is to suggest that a person is suffering from insanity. The phrase had been in use since 1835 to describe an unusual medical condition affecting hat manufacturers.

Mad as a hatter指一個人出現精神錯亂。從1835年起，這個短語就用來形容一種帽子製作者身上患有的病症。

In 18th and 19th century England mercury was used in the production of felt, which was used in the manufacturing of hats common of the time.

在18世紀和19世紀時期，英國人通常會使用含有汞的毛氈布料製作帽子。

“He was the first children’s book author to license his characters for use on other products, so the characters had individual lives,” says Vega, “The characters become familiar to a group of people wider than the readership of the book.”

韋加稱，“卡羅爾是第一個將自己的角色授權給其他商品使用的兒童文學作家。這些角色因此有了各自的人生。除了原著讀者之外，他們能被更多人所熟知。”

3. CHESHIRE CAT GRIN

咧嘴壞笑

Much as with our buddy the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat has been ingrained in the membrane. The adjectival phrase is, once again, associated with a specific character. So whenever someone describes a person as grinning like a Cheshire cat, we can picture that huge, mischievous—and slightly unsettling—smile.

和“瘋帽子”一樣，“柴郡貓”（Cheshire Cat）的形象也已深入人心。Cheshire Cat grin的含義也和書中角色有關。所以，每當有人用Cheshire Cat grin來形容一個人的笑容時，我們可以想象一張戲謔而略顯陰森的巨大笑臉。

4. OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

砍掉他們的頭！

Sure, Shakespeare scribbled it first—but Carroll’s Queen of Hearts certainly popularized the imperative.

雖然這句臺詞出自莎士比亞，但卡羅爾筆下的“紅心王后”確實讓它流行起來了。

5. TWEEDLEDEE AND TWEEDLEDUM

半斤八兩

From the 1871 sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, this one’s particularly useful for playground battles, presidential campaigns, and Halloween.

自從1871年《愛麗絲夢遊仙境》的續集《愛麗絲鏡中奇遇記》出版後，Tweedledee和 Tweedledum就經常用來形容操場鬥毆、總統大選以及萬聖節。

6. JABBERWOCKY

胡說八道

Prior to its 1871 print debut, jabberwocky was a nonsense word that served as the nonsense title of a nonsense poem in Through the Looking-Glass. Now, it’s a real entry in the real dictionary that really means “meaningless speech.”

在1871年《愛麗絲鏡中奇遇記》面世之前，jabberwocky就是故事中一首毫無意義的詩歌的毫無意義的標題中的一個毫無意義的單詞。現在jabberwocky已經被收錄進字典，用來表示“毫無意義的廢話”。