Meaning of ghetto lottery | Babel Free

Definitions

A financial windfall obtainable by a socioeconomically disadvantaged person.

US, figuratively, idiomatic

Examples

“The experts all agree that sports betting and the numbers game—the ghetto lottery—are the biggest sources of income for the mob, and this money is used to finance other rackets like narcotics, loansharking, pornography, and the infiltration of legitimate businesses and unions.”

“Marcia’s father, known in his neighborhood as “Duke,” became quite a gambler, betting on horses, dogs, boxing matches, and even policy, or “playing the numbers,” which was the ghetto lottery, so to speak.”

“It's called the ghetto lottery. Perp got handled a little too rough by a cop? He calls the People's Law office and sues the department for millions.”

CEFR level