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cart before the horse, put the

cart before the horse, put the idiom

Reverse the proper order of things or events, as in Don't put the cart before the horse and give away the punch line. This expression has been used since antiquity but was first recorded in English in 1520.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.