put the cart before the horse
本末倒置
講解:
馬應該套在車子(cart)的前面。如果反過來,把車子放 在馬前面,就會甘步難行。 put the cart before the horse就表示這種「本末倒置」的情形,也可以寫成cart-before-the-horse的復合字,當作形容詞用。
例句:
The initiative suggests measures to count warheads on missiles,tag weapons at manufacturing plants and ban such impediments to verification as encryption of missile test radio signals during launches. “This isn't putting the cart before the horse,says Democratic Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia,“but putting them next to each other, where they belong:’(出自:TIME,Jul. 31, 1989)
這項計劃提出一些方法來計算飛彈上的彈頭數目、將工廠中的武 器貼上標簽、并禁止阻撓驗證的行為,例如在發射時把試射飛彈的無線電訊號加密碼等等。喬治亞州民主黨參議員山姆努恩表示:「這不是把車套在馬前面,而是并駕齊驅。」