Question

Choose the correct meaning of the given phrase.
“To put the cart before the horse”
a) To undertake
b) To begin at the wrong end
c) To yoke
d) To regulate
e) To irregularities

Answer 1

Hint: A cart is a vehicle used to carry people or goods and is pulled by horses or oxen. To pull a cart, the cart should be after the animal. Hence to place the cart before signifies a job started or done in the wrong process which would lead to no results.

Complete answer:
Option a – To undertake
To undertake means to begin to do any activity of risky nature that the doer is well informed about.
Option b – To begin at the wrong end
To start some activity following the wrong procedure.
Option c – To yoke
To merge activities with someone to achieve the same end results.
Option d – To regulate
To control the flow of processes of any activity or process.
Option e – To irregularities
To actions that are not similar in nature or form or state of existence.

The correct option being ‘b’ – ‘to begin at the wrong end’.

Note: The phrase means to start an action in a wrong way or wrong direction or with a wrong process which would lead to making the whole activity go wrong, hence to being at the wrong end is the correct meaning of the phrase ‘to put the cart before the horse’.