Idiom meaning, usage examples, facts

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PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE

to reverse the necessary or expected order of two things; to put a later step first
 PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE
1. Christopher is already making plans to join a law firm next September, but he hasn’t even passed the bar exam yet. Isn’t he putting the cart before the horse?
2. You can’t illustrate the book before you have written the text. That’s putting the cart before the horse.

The expression suggests that one is reversing the natural order of things. The cart must go after the horse in order to get anywhere.


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