red-light district
6
6.1
- noun
- /ˈrɛdˌlaɪt ˈdɪstrɪkt/
- NSFW
:
barrio rojo
- The red-light district in Amsterdam is famous for its vibrant nightlife and numerous brothels.
And we go to this, the red light district in Salzburg, Austria.
- And we go to this, the red light district in Salzburg, Austria.
- And his solution to that is to eliminate women who are struggling just to get by working in, in the spas in the red light district of Atlanta.
- Yeah, just getting Stony baloney and doing mushroom, doing mushrooms and yeah, possibly doing stuff in the red light district.
Examples
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And the red light district is where there's just windows with ladies of the night.
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Tehran's red-light district was constructed so that it could be entered through one gate.
Fiction book (1991) -
Welcome to the red light district.
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Neither my friends nor I had ever seen anything like the red light district of Amsterdam.
Blog text (8) -
Walk west to Kabukicho, the red light district of Tokyo.
Blog text (25) -
We chilled out in the red-light district.
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When I was here in 2009, I brushed past the red light district as a funny, if embarrassing, accidental discovery.
Blog text (1) -
One night in Barcelona, Tommy and I were on shore patrolling the red light district.
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William Miles, African American, and Florence Flick, a white woman, had been living together for two years in the red-light district.
Academic text (1994) -
Make your way to Dashilan'r (B), a once-notorious red light district.
Blog text (17)
How Dangerous
- Literature
1
7.5
- Archaic
5
9.7
- NSFW
6
6.1
11
2.4
16
2.1
286
2.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
red-light + district
Knowing 'red', 'light' and 'district' yields a literal interpretation like 'an area with red lights' or a traffic-related zone, not specifically an area of brothels. The link between 'red light' and prostitution is a conventionalized, culture-specific meaning that B1 learners who only know the constituents are unlikely to deduce, so the expression is opaque.
Etymology
Red-light district may come from a simple street image: windows and doors lit by red lights or lanterns that marked places where people offered sex, called 'brothels'. That's why the phrase now means an area of a city known for adult businesses.