To a non-native English learner like me, understanding of, and familiarizing with the wide scope of usages of idioms associated with basic verbs such as “do, get, go, let, make, and have” are always a great headache. For instance, there was the following sentence in New Yorker’s (July 11) article titled, “How to tell someone that she is dying”:
“This raises a fundamental question about the doctor-patient
relationship: Is modern medical practice all about “patient knows
best?” or do physicians still need, on occasion, to cajole their
patient into doing the right thing? The encounter between Elizabeth
and her oncologist got off to a rough start and only got worse.”
What does the patient and doctor’s encounter “got off” to a rough start mean? Doe it mean they went or diverted into a rough start? What is a single word (verb) to represent for “got off” used here? Why is it "get off to," not "get off from (a rough start, and got worse)"?
CED defines “get off” as an idiom to mean;
1. escape a punishment, be acquitted.
2. go to sleep.
3. (usu. get off with) have a special encounter.
4. (usu. get off on) be excited or aroused.
Collins Cobuild English Dictionary defines “get off” as an idiom meaning;
1. not punished, or given a very small punishment.
2. leave a place because it is time for you to leave.
3. tell someone “get off” when they are touching you don’t want them to.
Which of the definitions of CED and Cobuild does the “got off” of the above article come under?
Best Answer
"Got of to a rough start" simply means things went badly at the beginning of some event or relationship. If you are leaving on a trip, and your taxi breaks down on the way to the airport, and when you get off the flight you ultimately caught, find out that your luggage is in a different city than you are, and you trip on an ice cube you didn't see in the entranceway of your hotel, you might say that your trip "got off to a rough start". In the case of the article you cite, the phrase means that for some reason the patient and the oncologist did not have a good working relationship at the beginning of their interaction.