THE CAT'S PAJAMAS XLV

Tad Tuleja

 

A collection of the (mostly) true origins of familiar phrases

 

CART BEFORE THE HORSE

 

The obvious implication of this phrase - that only an illogical person would have a horse push rather than pull a cart - was not the original one. The expression first appeared in 1889, after the Oklahoma land rush. At high noon on April 22 of that year, the government opened up to white settlers all those lands that had not yet been assigned to Indian peoples, and a horse race for the best lots ensued. The principle of lot selection was the simple one of first come, first served. But many homesteaders were not satisfied with that arrangement. Sneaking into the open country hours and even days before the starting gun, many of them were already fully settled when the fastest horses arrived.

Riders who had beaten the pack only to discover that the cheaters had beaten them gave us two expressions to remember them by. One was the contemptuous designation "Sooner." which Oklahomans strangely embraced as the nickname of their state and its people. The other was cart before the horse - an indication that the underhanded early arrivals had got there with carts and fences before ever getting on a horse.