in Queer Street

If you say that someone is in Queer Street, you mean that they are having difficulties, especially financial difficulties. This is an old-fashioned expression, which is used in British English.

Had he spent more time then listening to the educators, he might not now be in Queer Street.

Beneath the glitzy surface, the financial whizzkids of the world are mostly on the road to alcoholism, loneliness, a bedsit in Queer Street, or sometimes all three.

the man in the street

the woman in the street

When people talk about the man in the street, they mean ordinary, average people. Words such as `woman' and `person' are sometimes used instead of `man'.

The man in the street will be able to buy all that he could reasonably need the glaring exception of motor anywhere in Europe.

It was in terms that the more ordinary man and woman in the street could understand.

But how do these massive changes appear to people in the street? The general mood of the population seems to be contradictory.

right up your street 

just up your street

If you say that something is right up your street or just up your street, you mean that it is the kind of thing you like or know about. This expression is used mainly in British English. Right up your alley means the same.

There's a real quality and fighting spirit in this squad that's right up my street.

Actor Roy Barraclough has taken on a role that's right up his street -- as Sherlock Holmes' bumbling sidekick Watson.