About "Curiouser and curiouser" from Alice in Wonderland, did I use it right?

1、I felt curiouser and curiouser when I went to a fancy-dress party, because everyone was in strange costume.
2、It got curiouser and curiouser when I ate a piece of marijuana brownie. Everything was melting around me.

The subject should be "it" or "person/people"? And is this still a common phrase?

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Also, I am of an opinion that the sense of language should be cultivated by reading literature of a targeted language that one wants to learn. That is, I want to ask are there any websites compiling daily use phrases originated from literature?

I know there are also other phrases from Alice in Wonderland, like "rabbit hole" or "chase the white rabbit", but I can't find them on Cambridge Dictionary.

Thanks!

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Strewth

2021年9月11日

最佳解答

英語 (英國)

Agree with @fuhjuhp. I might also use “curiouser and curiouser” - if I ever did - as a stand-alone phrase meaning something like “how strange” or “how intriguing”.

- So it turned out that he wasn’t the boy’s father at all!
- Mmm-hmm.
- And then they revealed that the boy was actually one of twins separated at birth!
- Curiouser and curiouser…

“Down the rabbit hole” is still in pretty common use though.

- I started off by watching a video about conspiracy theories on YouTube and just went down the rabbit hole…

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fuhjuhp

2021年9月11日

英語 (英國)

You would never say "curiouser" by itself. You'd say "more curious". "Curiouser and curiouser" only exists as a phrase because of Alice in Wonderland.

But if you want to use it, it should be to describe strange situation getting stranger, so things become "curiouser and curiouser" or it becomes "curiouser and curiouser". You probably wouldn't say "I felt curiouser and curiouser", so sentence 1 doesn't sound that natural. I guess for 2, I'd say "Things got curiouser and curiouser when..."

It's not that common. I would probably never say this, but if I did, it would only be if I was joking.

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Strewth

2021年9月11日

英語 (英國)

Agree with @fuhjuhp. I might also use “curiouser and curiouser” - if I ever did - as a stand-alone phrase meaning something like “how strange” or “how intriguing”.

- So it turned out that he wasn’t the boy’s father at all!
- Mmm-hmm.
- And then they revealed that the boy was actually one of twins separated at birth!
- Curiouser and curiouser…

“Down the rabbit hole” is still in pretty common use though.

- I started off by watching a video about conspiracy theories on YouTube and just went down the rabbit hole…

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AyameAzusa

2021年9月12日

中文 (繁體，臺灣)

@fuhjuhp @Strewth

Yeah I know it should be "more curious", but when I watched the series "The big bang theory" I kept hearing Sheldon saying "curiouser and curiouser." I searched for it and found out that this was originated from Alice in Wonderland.

In the series, he also used it as a stand-alone phrase. But I am preparing for IELTS (language proficiency test), it should be the case that I keep speaking alone. So, I am wondering whether there is a way of combining this phrase into a sentence, which can let the examiner know that I am learning English by not only textbooks but also literature.

Anyway, really appreciate all the help you both gave :-) thanks!

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I chose the best answer by drawing lots. No better or worse, both of your answers are great!