Put the Cart before the Horse
Put the Cart before the Horse
to do two things in the wrong order, to reverse the proper order of procedures or tasks, to do things backward
The expression, put the cart before the horse, is an idiom or proverb used to suggest something is done contrary to a conventional or culturally expected order or relationship. A cart is a vehicle which is ordinarily pulled by a horse, so to put the cart before the horse is an analogy for doing things in the wrong order. The figure of speech means doing things the wrong way round or with the wrong emphasis. The idiom is about confusing cause and effect.
The meaning of the phrase is based on the common knowledge that a horse usually pulls a cart, despite rare examples of vehicles pushed by horses in 19th-century Germany and early 20th-century France.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/
Ben and Cheryl, my dear sisters and brothers, I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase putting the cart before the horse. You know what it means. To put the cart before horse is to have things in the wrong order. To confuse our priorities. And it’s not difficult to see why. People don’t usually load a cart just for the fun of it. They do it for a specific purpose. To transport their stuff from one place to another. They have a particular destination in mind. But the cart cannot get to this place on its own. It needs the energy, provided by the horse, to pull it to where it’s supposed to go. And the horse can only do this if it’s placed first. In front of the cart. Not the other way round.
Source: http://breaking-the-word.blogspot.com/
The phrase is reportedly in use for at least 430 years, or perhaps since the horses have been pulling carts. Since horses pull, and not push, carts; it is natural for the horse to be put or placed ahead of the cart. A cart placed in front of the horse is bound to create difficulties. And that is what the idiom means – doing things in a reverse, and most possibly difficult, order.
Source: https://www.quora.com/
Farsi: کارها را پس و پیش انجام دادن
