「はじめの一歩」が肝心 ー get off on the right foot

アマゾンが米国ニューヨークのロングアイランド地区に第2本社を置くという発表が昨年11月に行いました。

一方、同地区の住民からは歓迎されていないようで、環境への悪影響などの懸念が表明されていました。

年が変わり、2019年、アマゾン側は第2本社の設置が同地区にもたらす恩恵を積極的に発信するコミュニケーション戦略に打って出たようです。


Amazon is ramping up its New York charm offensive.

In an open letter on Saturday, the online retail behemoth ticked off a slew of benefits it promises to bring to Long Island City, where it has stirred controversy since it selected the Queens neighborhood in November as a site for its new HQ2 corporate headquarters.

“Happy New Year from your future neighbors at Amazon,” the web giant began in the letter to New Yorkers, which was published Saturday in The Post and other news outlets.

Amid alarming reports about potentially strained sewage systems in the neighborhood by the influx of 25,000 new employees as well as critics who are upset about Amazon’s employment polices, tax incentives and just about everything Amazon stands for, the company is determined to get off on the right foot.
(Lisa Ficenscher. Amazon details what it’ll bring to Long Island City in open letter. New York Post. January 5, 2019.)


引用した記事の最後の部分で、


the company is determined to get off on the right foot


とありますがこの”get off on the right foot”が今日取り上げる表現です。

Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Idiomsには、下記のような説明があります。


If you start doing something and you get off on the wrong foot, you start badly or in an unfortunate way. Compare caught on the wrong foot and start off on the right foot.


つまり、「はじめの一歩」が肝心、ということですね。