🗓️ Idiom: Put the Cart Before the Horse
💬 Meaning
- To do things in the wrong order.
- To focus on results before doing the necessary steps that lead to them.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Launching the product before we finish testing is putting the cart before the horse.
- They hired staff before securing any contracts. They really put the cart before the horse.
- Let’s not put the cart before the horse by planning delivery routes before confirming suppliers.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from the image of a horse-drawn cart. Normally, the horse goes in front to pull the cart. Reversing the order would be illogical — just like doing things in the wrong sequence in business or planning.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Trying to schedule deliveries before confirming the supplier is like __________.
Answer
putting the cart before the horse
2. Choose the correct meaning of “put the cart before the horse”:
A) To organize something perfectly
B) To do things in a backwards or illogical order
C) To delay making a decision
Answer
B) To do things in a backwards or illogical order
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“You’re focusing on the result before starting the process.” → Change the sentence using: put the cart before the horse
Answer
You’re putting the cart before the horse.
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