The expression cart before the horse is an idiom or proverb used to suggest something is done contrary to a conventional or culturally expected order or relationship. A cart is a vehicle which is ordinarily pulled by a horse, so to put the cart before the horse is an analogy for doing things in the wrong order. The figure of speech means doing things the wrong way round or with the wrong emphasis. The idiom is about confusing cause and effect.
Contents
The meaning of the phrase is based on the common knowledge that a horse usually pulls a cart, despite rare examples of vehicles pushed by horses in 19th-century Germany and early 20th-century France.
History
The earliest recorded use of the proverb was in the early 16th century. It was a figure of speech in the Renaissance.
Context
The idiom is used in a context which reverses the usual chronological order of A and B.