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The meaning and origin of the expression: The wrong side of the blanket

The wrong side of the blanket

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What's the meaning of the phrase 'The wrong side of the blanket'?

The expression 'born on the wrong side of the blanket' is a euphemism for being born out of wedlock.

What's the origin of the phrase 'The wrong side of the blanket'?

This expression, which denotes illegitimacy, has never been clearly explained and I'm not sure exactly when and where it originated.

The wrong side of the blanketThe first known use of it in print is in Tobias Smollett's comic novel Humphry Clinker, 1771:

Thof my father wa'n't a gentleman, my mother was an honest woman - I didn't come on the wrong side of the blanket, girl - My parents were marred according to the right of holy mother crutch, in the face of men and angles - Mark that, Mary Jones.

[Note: the spelling mistakes are deliberate, for humorous effect.]

With 'the wrong side of the tracks' there is a clear reference to being raised at the poor end of town. Getting out of the 'wrong side of the bed' is an allusion to starting the day on the wrong foot. As to the source of being born (or conceived) on the 'the wrong side of the blanket', there is no pat answer. Presumably there was also a right side of the blanket, but there aren't any known references to that either. Chalk this one up as an etymological mystery.

See also: Wet blanket

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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