A few days ago
What does the expression to “start off on the wrong foot” mean?
What does the expression to “start off on the wrong foot” mean?
Top 10 Answers
A few days ago
Favorite Answer
Get off on the wrong foot
Meaning
Make a bad start to a project or relationship.
2
5 years ago
You can think of it as not getting along right away with someone else. Say you just meet someone and you (or the other person) says or does something that makes you angry. But then, as you talk, things ease up and you start to feel comfortable… even really liking the person later. It would be said that you started off the wrong foot… which usually implies that you later get on the right foot and everything’s okay.
0
A few days ago
When you’re walking, people tend to favor to take the first step with the same foot, for whatever reason. The expression, to start off on the wrong foot, usually refers to the awkward position or uncomfortable situation you may find yourself in when you first meet someone. If certain conditions made the meeting awkward of unpleasant, it’s equivalent to taking that first step with the wrong foot. You don’t like doing it and usually, you wish to fix it by changing your gait, or in this case, ratifying the situation.
0
A few days ago
Soldiers march in step and all begin on the same foot. If you start off on the wrong foot you will be out of rhythm the entire march, so “starting off on the wrong foot” means making a poor beginning.
3
A few days ago
To start off on the wrong foot (or get off on the wrong foot) means you started off wrong.
In English, it is an idiom that is most commonly used when you first meet someone, and you started off badly. One example of this would be in the movie “Scrooged” when Bill Murray meets his eventual girlfriend, and they bump heads.
It can extend past the first meeting…if you have a sequence of initial bad experiences with a person, you could re-introduce yourself, with the explanation that “you got off on the wrong foot.”
0
A few days ago
When dancing the waltz with a partner, men start off on the left foot moving forward while women start off on the right foot moving backward. If one of the two dancers (O.K. – the man) starts off on the wrong foot, you will, at least, step on someone’s toes. At worst, you both might crash to the floor. Capiche?
0
A few days ago
I think it comes from or metaphorically refers to dancing. If you are dancing with apartner in days of old the gent was supposed to lead with the right foot and the lady follow with the left. Any deviation resulted in both parties hittin` the deck so to speak and being socially embarressed for the rest of their natural…………I`m getting over it though hee hee
0
A few days ago
it means when two people first meet and one offends the other or does something to make the two have a wrong first impression about each other. They say this to make up afterwards.
0
A few days ago
It means your doing it wrong at the start.
1
A few days ago
Making a bad start or bad first impressions
0
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