A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

get it together • get one’s act together
get it together —
1
. (UK coll.) manage to organize an activity:
We were planning a trip to India last year, but we never got
it together. 2. (sl.) have sex: We’d met a few times before, but
we didn’t really get it together till Rachel’s party.
get one’s act together—(coll.) get mentally organized (also: get
one’s head together): It took me a few days to get my act
together, but I finally gathered up the nerve to start writing.
get mixed up with someone • mix it up with
someone
get mixed up with someone —become associated with a per-
son, especially smb. disreputable: Don’t get mixed up with
him — he’s a crook!
mix it up with someone —(coll.) start a quarrel or fight with
a person: Don’t try mixing it up with me — I’ve got a gun!
get off base • get to first base
get off base —(coll.) be erroneous or inappropriate: While
the author did a good job building her characters, she really
got off base with her Agatha Christie research.
get to first base —(also: reach first base) get to the initial stage:
The outcome, of course, is now history; the wiretap bill never
got to first base.
get off on the wrong foot • get out of bed with the
wrong foot foremost
get off on the wrong foot—make a bad beginning: I am afraid
we get off on the wrong foot by openly showing our hostility
to the proposals.
get out of bed with the wrong foot foremost—be in a bad tem-
per when one gets up: I am afraid you got out of bed with the
wrong foot foremost this morning.
See also: catch someone on the wrong foot / put a foot wrong.
get off one’s bike • get on one’s bike
get off one’s bike —(Austral., NZ sl.) get agitated or annoyed:
“I tell you I saw no-one.” “Don’t get off your bike, son. I
know you’re tellin’ lies.”
get on one’s bike —(coll.) start making an effort to do smth.:
With rent to pay and a wife and baby, I had to get on my
bike.