down Queer Street
- idiom
- Archaic
:
en problemas
- If you keep spending like that, you'll end up down Queer Street.
Examples
-
She warned him that accepting the shady deal could land him down Queer Street.
-
After losing his job, Mark found himself down Queer Street.
-
After failing to pay back the loan, Mark realized he was down Queer Street.
-
Mark is down Queer Street!
-
After failing to pay back the loan, Mark realized he was down Queer Street.
-
If you keep spending like that, you'll end up down Queer Street.
-
She warned him that accepting the shady deal could land him down Queer Street.
Synonyms
6
8.5
In trouble and not able to fix the situation
4
7.7
Poor and without a home or money
3
7.9
Very poor and without money, a job, or a home
Being very short of money and struggling to pay for things
How Troubled
- Informal
11
7.4
- Archaic
∞
2.9
- Informal
8
4.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components give partial clues: 'down' signals a low or unfavorable state and 'street' can connote hardship, while 'queer' marks something odd or problematic, so learners might infer a general bad situation. However the fixed idiomatic sense 'in trouble (often financially or due to risky decisions)' is not fully predictable from the parts and is regionally idiomatic, so a B1 learner who simply knows the words would likely only grasp a vague negative sense rather than the precise meaning.
Etymology
The phrase down Queer Street may come from Carey Street in old London, where people who could not pay their debts had to go to court. Being 'down Carey Street' came to mean 'in trouble' or 'bankrupt', and that sense later changed into Queer Street, which is why the phrase now means 'in serious trouble'.