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Don't put the cart before the horse

Meaning: Do things in the correct order.

Origin: Latin proverb (Currus bovem trahit), used since the 16th century in English.

Translations

  • French: Ne mets pas la charrue avant les bœufs (literally: Don't put the plow before the oxen)
  • Spanish: No empieces la casa por el tejado (literally: Don't start the house from the roof)
  • Japanese: 本末転倒 (Honmatsu tentō) (literally: Reversing root and branch)

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