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Glite Dictionary
to put the cart before the horse

to put the cart before the horse

4 7.9
To do things in the wrong order
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : poner la carreta delante de los bueyes
  • We should first develop a budget before we start hiring; otherwise, we're just putting the cart before the horse.
  • put the cart before the horse," he said

But you still shouldn't put the cart before the horse.

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Examples

  • "Oh no," Margaret jumped in, "that's putting the cart before the horse."

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Fun idea, but I think that's putting the cart before the horse.

    Blog text (11)

  • But I was probably putting the cart before the horse.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • It's putting the cart before the horse to place greater importance on the latter.

    Blog text (33)

  • Of course, Perry has not said he will run, so maybe we are all putting the cart before the horse.

    Blog text (7)

  • We mustn't put the cart before the horse.

    The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

  • Don't put the cart before the horse.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • First, by emphasizing the creation of the state before the nation, it actually put the cart before the horse.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The frequent use of Lebanon as a role model, he says, seems to be putting the cart before the horse.

    Blog text (23)

  • Open relationships aren't a cure for jealousy—that's putting the cart before the horse.

    Blog text (14)

Antonyms

to get it right
190 2.1

To do something correctly so it works as intended

Surface Forms

put the cart before the horse infinitive
put the cart before the horse past
put the cart before the horse past participle
putting the cart before the horse present participle
puts the cart before the horse third person singular

Morphology

put + the + cart + before + the + horse

The proverb's meaning is directly inferable from the literal image: placing a cart before the horse is an obviously wrong or reversed order, so it maps straightforwardly to doing things in the wrong sequence. The constituents are high-frequency and the causal logic is cross-linguistically familiar, so a B1 learner who knows the words should be able to deduce the intended meaning.

Etymology

Put the cart before the horse comes from a clear picture: imagine a wooden cart placed in front of the horse, so the animal cannot pull it and nothing moves. That silly image shows why the phrase means 'to do things in the wrong order' today.