wrong side of the blanket, born on the
born on the wrong side of the blanket
Born to parents who were not married. His parents eventually married, but that boy was born on the wrong side of the blanket.
See also: blanket, born, of, on, side, wrong
wrong side of the blanket
Referring to being born to parents who were not married. Used in the phrase "born on the wrong side of the blanket." His parents eventually married, but that boy was born on the wrong side of the blanket.
See also: blanket, of, side, wrong
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
born on the wrong side of the blanket
Rur. [of a child] illegitimate. All his life, Edward felt that people looked down on him because he was born on the wrong side of the blanket. Just between you and me, I suspect Mrs. Potter's oldest child was born on the wrong side of the blanket.
See also: blanket, born, of, on, side, wrong
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
born on the wrong side of the blanket
illegitimate. datedSee also: blanket, born, of, on, side, wrong
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
wrong side of the blanket, born on the
Illegitimate. This term was current in the eighteenth century and may well be obsolete. Tobias Smollett used it in Humphry Clinker (1771): “My mother was an honest woman. I didn’t come in on the wrong side of the blanket.”
See also: born, of, on, side, wrong
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
wrong side of the blanket
Illegitimacy. A child born out of wedlock was said to have been born on the wrong side of the blanket, as if being under the covers was a luxury to which only legitimate babies were entitled. Other obsolescent phrases for an illegitimate baby are “natural child” and “love child.”
See also: blanket, of, side, wrong
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
- born on the wrong side of the blanket
- wrong side of the blanket
- on the wrong side of the blanket
- born out of wedlock
- wedlock
- woods colt
- parentally challenged
- be born that way
- be/be born/be made that way
- born and bred