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3. the wrong side of the tracks

the wrong side of the tracks

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the wrong side of the tracks

also the other side of the tracks

the poor area of a city or town She was brought up on the wrong side of the tracks in a small southern town.

Usage notes: sometimes used in the forms the wrong side of town or the wrong side of the street: Her family was clearly from the wrong side of town.

Etymology: based on the idea that a poor area is often divided from the rest of a town by railroad tracks

See also: of, side, track, wrong