the wrong side of the tracks

the wrong side of the tracks

A part of a town or city that is particularly impoverished (and usually dangerous or undesirable as a result). "Tracks" refers to railroad tracks, which are sometimes thought of as demarcating different economic areas of a town. I was always looked down on as a kid because I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. His mother didn't want him dating anyone from the wrong side of the tracks.
See also: of, side, track, wrong
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

side of the tracks

see under right side of the tracks.
See also: of, side, track

wrong side of the tracks

see under right side of the tracks.
See also: of, side, track, wrong
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

the wrong side of the tracks

a poor or less prestigious part of town. informal
The expression, American in origin, comes from the idea of a town divided by a railroad track. In 1929 , Thorne Smith wrote ‘In most commuting towns…there are always two sides of which the tracks serve as a line of demarcation. There is the right side and the wrong side. Translated into terms of modern American idealism, this means, the rich side and the side that hopes to be rich.’
1977 Listener Eva Duarte Peron…came from the wrong side of the tracks.
See also: of, side, track, wrong
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

wrong side of the tracks

n. the poor side of town. I’m glad I’m from the wrong side of the tracks. I know what life is really like.
See also: of, side, track, wrong
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

wrong side of the tracks, the

The undesirable side of town. This term came into being after the building of railroads, which often sharply divided a town into two districts, one prosperous and one not. (Of course, the same phenomenon had existed prior to railroad tracks.) Thus Miss Cholmondeley wrote, in Diana Tempest (1893), “The poor meagre home in a dingy street; the wrong side of Oxford Street.”
See also: of, side, wrong
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer

wrong side of the tracks

The less desirable part of town. In many 19th- and early-20th-century America, railroad tracks divided a city or town. On one side was the middle- and upper-class residential and commercial area. On the other were factories and residential shacks and tenements. Since residents of the former made class distinctions and applied appropriate language, anyone from the other part of town came from the wrong side of the tracks.
See also: of, side, track, wrong
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • other side of the tracks
  • side of the tracks
  • the other side of the tracks
  • wrong side of the tracks
  • wrong side of the tracks, the
  • the right side of the tracks
  • right side of the tracks
  • from the wrong side of the tracks
  • from/on the wrong side of the tracks
  • on the wrong side of the tracks
References in periodicals archive
The appeal should be heard by those associated with society's most unruly individuals and they must bring pressure to bear on those who live on the wrong side of the tracks.
Police still have much work to do
Jersey Boys tells the true story of four boys from the wrong side of the tracks who wrote their own songs, invented their own unique sound and sold 175 million records worldwide.
YOUR NEXT 48 hours
Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, Jolene Wells is forever indebted to the mother who encouraged her to fly all the way to sunny LA and a world away from Honeymoon Harbor.
Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane
The two main teenage characters, Harry and Charlie, are disparate in many ways--the former is a recent emigre to Las Vegas from the UK, with money behind him, and the latter is a girl from 'the wrong side of the tracks' who could just turn out to be the new Katniss Everdeen.
Muchamore, Robert: Killer T
film Lady Bird Christine "Lady Bird" MacPherson is a high school senior from the wrong side of the tracks. She longs for adventure, sophistication, and opportunity, but finds none of that in her Sacramento Catholic high school.
YOUR NEXT 48 HOURS
Ivy and Dogg turn the stereotypes of established high school tropes -- the popular kid and the kid from the wrong side of the tracks, the athlete and the nerd -- inside out.
Ivy vs. Dogg; With a Cast of Thousands!
THEATRE Jersey Boys This Olivier Award-winning musical tells the true life story of four boys from the wrong side of the tracks who sold over four million record worldwide as The Four Seasons.
48 hours BIRMINGHAM HOT LIST YOUR NEXT
It is peak Las Vegas, peak sporting showbiz, peak ragsto-riches stuff, with two men from the wrong side of the tracks earning untold riches from their set-to.
Floyd fight has purists intrigued.
Her death and the mass hysteria that followed it show why the power-dressing girl from the wrong side of the tracks captured Argentinian hearts.
Theatre; Inside Out; Quick guide to turning your free time into fun time
Andy McDonald's letter is very near the truth in saying that this government is destroying the hopes and dreams of clever kids born on the wrong side of the tracks. Should these kids not be so clever, I am sure that they will be motivated in attaining something worthwhile.
Voters should look back to the founding fathers of Labour
Most of society blames the destruction on withdrawal symptoms, but five previously medicated teens from the wrong side of the tracks decide to take matters into their own hands.
Sutcliffe, William. Concentr8
It tells the true story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their rise to stardom from the wrong side of the tracks.
JERSEY BOYS, SUNDERLAND EMPIRE
Following their rise to stardom from the wrong side of the tracks, these four boys from New Jersey became one of the most successful bands in pop history.
FrankieValli story brought TOWALES; PREVIEW: Jersey Boys at Wales Millennium Centre
Robert's character in Twlight, Edward, is like that moody kid on the wrong side of the tracks who every girl wanted to try and fix.
HORROR NEEDS A RE-VAMP
Discover how four New Jersey boys from the wrong side of the tracks invented their own sound, wrote their own songs, and became one of the biggest pop sensations of all time, taking the world by storm, all before the age of 30.
Hang on for the music of Frankie