TikTok Users Are Claiming "The Rabbit Got Me" After Experiencing Life-Changing Events

Unless you are on TikTok more than the average Gen Z or iPad kid, then you might be a little out of the loop when it comes to some phrases. One that is making the rounds now is "the rabbit got me," and its meaning is pretty obvious once you understand the context in which some users are saying it. That doesn't mean it's easy to understand right off the bat, however, because most TikTok sayings or trends have a bit of lore behind them.

It's often the case of the chicken and the egg, because who even comes up with a TikTok trend or phrase that takes off the way some of them do? Don't even get us started on "six seven" or brainrot characters, both of which are trends that seem to have no end date. But, much like those, it's not totally clear how or why the phrase "the rabbit got me" started, and some users want a better understanding of its meaning.

If you know anything about the story of Alice in Wonderland, then you know the white rabbit is Alice's first glimpse into the wild world she is pulled into. As one user on TikTok by the name of Marycruz explains in one of her videos, if someone says the rabbit got them on TikTok, it is in reference to the white rabbit "getting" Alice and pulling her into chaos.

"He shows up with his pocket watch [and] everything in her life turns upside down," she explains in her video, of the rabbit and Alice. "So in this trend, you post happy moments before a tragedy, a heartbreak, just some sort of life-changing experience happens for you."

She explains that, for her, the "rabbit" got her when a person close to her passed away unexpectedly while she was pregnant and, therefore, she was unable to properly celebrate her happiness while she grieved her loved one. She adds that her life "changed completely ever since."

Another user posted that the meaning behind the rabbit got me on TikTok relates to losing a partner. They wrote on the video in their TikTok that the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland symbolizes time running out. They wrote in the caption, "When people say 'the rabbit got me,' it means your time ran out with someone you loved. Not every love ends badly — sometimes it just ends when the clock says it's time."

With both explanations about what the TikTok phrase and trend mean, though, users share something personal that happened to them and how they felt changed after it occurred.

According to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland does symbolize time and losing track of time. The rabbit is also, per the university, a symbol of a fast-paced world and feeling under pressure to keep up with it. The rabbit on TikTok also seems to symbolize time, or a lack thereof, for some users.