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Seamy Side (The)

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The “wrong” or worst side; as, the “seamy side of Australia,” “the seamy side of life.” Thus, in velvet, in Brussels carpets, in tapestry, etc., the “wrong” side shows the seams or threads of the pattern exhibited on the right side.

“You see the seamy side of human nature in its most seamy attire.”—Review of R. Buchanan’s play Alone in London, November, 1885.


“My present purpose is to call attention to the seamy side of the Australian colonies. There is, as we know, such a thing as cotton-backed satin; but the colonists take care to show us only the face of the goods.”—Nineteenth Century, April, 1891, p. 524.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Scythian Defiance
Sea
Sea-blue Bird of March (The)
Sea Deities
Sea-girt Isle
Sea-green Incorruptible (The)
Sea Legs
Sea Serpent
Seaboard
Seal
Seamy Side (The)
Seasons (The)
Sebaraim
Sebastian (St.)
Sebastianistes
Second
Second-hand
Second Sight
Second Wind (The)
Second of Time (A)
Secondary Colours