ProverbWisdomEnglish origin1546

Don't put the cart before the horse

Meaning: Do things in the correct order.

Origin: Latin had a similar image of the cart drawing the ox, and John Heywood's 1546 collection has "Set the cart before the horse." It describes doing things in the wrong order.

Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and 2 more languages

  • French: Il ne faut pas mettre la charrue avant les bœufs (literally: One must not 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)
  • German: Das Pferd von hinten aufzäumen (literally: To bridle the horse from behind)
  • Italian: Non mettere il carro davanti ai buoi (literally: Don't put the cart before the oxen)
  • Portuguese: Pôr o carro à frente dos bois (literally: Putting the cart in front of the oxen)
  • Chinese: 本末倒置 (Běn mò dào zhì) (literally: Root and tip turned upside down)

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