get to first base(to make the first step in a course or process that one hopes will lead further –usually used in negative statements || comment by Liv Bliss: Context is all: this term is also used to mark progress in sexual relations, in which "first base" means "(deep) mouth-to-mouth kissing" (it's rather juvenile, so I would only expect to hear it used ironically, or in earnest by younger teenagers): Her proposal to change the tax laws never got to first base.marina_aid)
