If you get off on the wrong foot, you start a relationship or an activity badly. We got off on the wrong foot the first time I met him. Note: You can also say that you start off on the wrong foot. Their relationship had started off on the wrong foot, but the bond between Packer and Singleton grew stronger over time. Note: You can also say that something gets people or activities off on the wrong foot or starts them off on the wrong foot. Most of the farming people had some trouble with English pronouns (hi in Welsh is she in English, which starts them off on the wrong foot). Note: The `wrong foot' refers to the left foot. There is an ancient superstition that the left side of the body is connected with bad luck and evil. The Romans sometimes placed guards at the entrances to public buildings to ensure that people entered them with their right foot first. `Get out of bed on the wrong side' is based on a similar belief. Compare with be caught on the wrong foot. Compare with start off on the right foot.