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Anonymous Posted 8 years ago
Vocabulary

The wrong guy

...sailors fighting in the dance hall

oh man!

Look at those cavemen go

It's the freakiest show

take a look at the lawman beating up the wrong guy

(David Bowie - Life On Mars)


I don't see whether the wrong guy means the morally wrong guy or the innocent guy.

  

Top answer

In the phrase, "lawman beating up the wrong guy," "the wrong guy" always means an innocent guy. The phrase "wrong guy" would mean "morally wrong guy," for example, in the following situations: She picked the wrong guy to marry. He picked the wrong guy to trust with his money.

  • In the phrase, "lawman beating up the wrong guy," "the wrong guy" always means an innocent guy.
  • The phrase "wrong guy" would mean "morally wrong guy," for example, in the following situations: She picked the wrong guy to marry.
  • He picked the wrong guy to trust with his money.
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3 Answers
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In the phrase, "lawman beating up the wrong guy," "the wrong guy" always means an innocent guy. The phrase "wrong guy" would mean "morally wrong guy," for example, in the following situations:


She picked the wrong guy to marry.

He picked the wrong guy to trust with his money.

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Presumably "the wrong guy" is a guy who didn't actually commit the crime.

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anonymousthe lawman beating up the wrong guy

I read it as a violent assault comitted by a law-enforcement officer, for example, a policeman, sheriff on an innocent man. I take it as a metaphor for society's injustices.

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