Walk on the wild side

Origin of: Walk on the wild side

Walk on the wild side

An American idiomatic expression that has come to mean questionable, risky, possibly immoral, or even sexually deviant behaviour. The origin is from a song of the same name that was written and performed in 1972 by Lou Reed ( 1942-2014). Walk on the wild side was an expression used by New York sex workers to attract customers before Lou Reed used it in his song.