poñer o carro diante dos bois

Literally, “put the cart in front of the oxen”.

poñer o carro diante dos bois

1. (idiomatic) put the cart before the horse
   • 1884, O tío Marcos da Portela, number 16 (2nd period):

     Agora ten entre maus o contratista o nagocio da tubería de ferro, poñendo ansí o carro diante dos bois, e astra que o Auntamento aprobe a merca dos tales tubos, as obras non irán adiante.

     Now the contractor have the iron piping business in his hands, so putting the cart before the horse, because until the Town Council approves the acquisition of said tubes, the works won't carry out.

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “poñer o carro diante dos bois”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega