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Forums Open House, Open Mouth, Open Call curioser and curiouser?

curioser and curiouser?

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9:13AM
Jul-22-08


Scott

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http://www.cnbc.com/id/25798954

The link points to an article titled: “Steve Jobs “Health” Issue Just Gets Curiouser And Curiouser”.

Is ‘curiouser’ actually a word and if so, is this proper use?

9:54AM
Jul-22-08


dilettante

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“‘Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English)…”

- Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

You’ll find the expression turns up a lot, often with a reference to Alice.

10:00AM
Aug-01-08


martha

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martha

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I hadn’t realized until just now that the OED lists the phrase “curiouser and curiouser” within the entry for “curious,” defining it as “more and more curious; increasingly strange.” And as dilettante suggests, the first citation is indeed from Lewis Carroll.

No word on “curiousest.”
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