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Glite Dictionary
to go down the wrong way

to go down the wrong way

1 7.7
Cause people to misunderstand you and feel upset
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : ser mal recibido
  • His comment about the project really go down the wrong way with the team, creating tension instead of support.

Examples

  • I hope my joke doesn't go down the wrong way.

  • Her comments went down the wrong way with the audience.

  • Be careful how you phrase your feedback so it doesn't go down the wrong way.

  • Her remarks about the project went down the wrong way with the team and sparked an argument.

  • I think my joke went down the wrong way at dinner last night.

  • When she criticized his presentation, it seemed to go down the wrong way and hurt his feelings.

  • The joke he made during the meeting went down the wrong way and left everyone feeling uncomfortable.

Synonyms

to backfire
vsto go down the wrong way
95 5.4

To have the opposite effect of what was intended, hurting the person who did it

is taken badly or misunderstood rather than producing an opposite result

Antonyms

to please
216 1.0

To make someone happy or satisfied

How Well

to bring down
  • Informal
2 5.4
to go down the wrong way
  • Informal
1 7.7
to fall flat
  • Informal
19 4.9

Surface Forms

go down the wrong way infinitive
going down the wrong way present participle
goes down the wrong way third person singular
went down the wrong way past
gone down the wrong way past participle

Morphology

go + down + the + wrong + way

The negative reception sense is partly inferable because 'go down' can metaphorically mean 'be received' and 'the wrong way' clearly signals a negative manner, so a learner who knows the constituents may guess a bad reception. However, mapping 'go down' to 'be received' is idiomatic/metaphorical and not fully predictable without exposure (though similar constructions exist in other languages), so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Go down the wrong way comes from a clear image of swallowing the wrong way: when a drink or bite goes down into your throat and makes you cough. So the phrase now means words or actions are 'received badly' or 'misunderstood'.