take a walk on the wild side
Embrace dangerous experiences
To take a walk on the wild side is to engage in behavior that is risky, unconventional, or outside one's normal experience—often with connotations of danger, transgression, or hedonism.
The phrase was popularized by Lou Reed's 1972 song about the underground characters of Andy Warhol's New York scene.
She was pretty strait-laced in college but decided to take a walk on the wild side after graduation.
- walk on the wild sideExperience life's edgier pleasures
- thrill-seekingPursuing excitement through risk
- living dangerouslyEmbracing hazardous choices
- defianceOpen resistance to authority
- escapadeReckless, exciting adventure
off the beaten path · journey · counterculture · rebel without a cause · adrenaline · subversion · renegade · maverick · iconoclast · free spirit · breaking the rules · high stakes · protest · safari · forbidden · gamble · Lou Reed · street life
take a walk on the wild sideplay it safe
Avoid unnecessary chances
play by the rules · err on the side of caution · hedge one's bets · keep one's nose clean · stay out of trouble
take a walk on the wild sidetoe the line
Adhere to standards
color inside the lines · follow the rules · keep up appearances · conform · go along to get along
take a walk on the wild sidestay in one's lane
Stick to your expertise
vegetate · keep to oneself · play house · nest · hibernate
takers, walked, walking, walker, walkers, walkway, sidewalk, wilder, wildest