Portuguesecolocar o carro à frente dos bois
Meaning: To have the wrong priorities or do things in the wrong order.
Literally: To put the cart in front of the oxen
Example: “Comprar o vestido antes de marcar o casamento é colocar o carro à frente dos bois.” — Buying the dress before setting the wedding date is putting the cart before the horse.
English equivalent: To put the cart before the horse
Equivalents in other languages
French: Mettre la charrue avant les bœufs Literally: To put the plow before the oxen
English: put the cart before the horse
Origin: Oxen pull the cart, so putting the cart in front of them is doing things in the wrong order. The image is shared with English "put the cart before the horse" and French mettre la charrue avant les bœufs (the plow before the oxen); in Portugal and Brazil, where carts were drawn by oxen, the animals are bois.
More Portuguese idioms
- do dia para a noite Very suddenly or extremely quickly.
- vaca sagrada Something so valued or protected that it cannot be criticized, changed, or harmed.
- morrer de rir To laugh very hard or uproariously.
- a cereja do bolo the crowning touch; something wonderful that completes something already good.
- brincar com fogo to engage in a risky or dangerous behavior; to put oneself in harm's way.
- nu e cru To speak with brutal, unvarnished honesty, holding nothing back.
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