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general::
Phrase(s): start off on the wrong foot [and] step off on the wrong foot
Fig. to begin things incorrectly. (As if one were beginning to march and began on the right rather than the left foot.) • Give me some advice. I don’t want to start off on the wrong foot. • Tim stepped off on the wrong foot in his new job.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs