Hi loosehead, I was trying to put it in simple terms, but perhaps it didn't come across well.
By 'sunside', I suppose I meant towards the centre of the solar system, since being an inner planet, Venus' orbit will never take it greater than a few tens of degrees either side of the sun - (viewed along the orbital plane) - hence, from Earth, it is only seen at dusk and dawn.
Compare this to an outer planet which, similarly, will have periods of its orbit where it is "behind the sun" to a viewer from Earth. However, an outer planet will also have a time in its orbit where it is in opposition to the sun with respect to the Earth. (ie. irrespective of the light from the sun issue, they are only visible when facing out of the solar system, and away from the sun)
All planets will spend times in their orbit behind the sun (from an Earth viewpoint) - but only the outer planets can also spend time in their orbits "opposite the sun" (with respect to Earth).