本末倒置

lit. to invert root and branch (idiom); fig. confusing cause and effect / to stress the incidental over the fundamental / to put the cart before the horse

root / stem / origin / source / this / the current / original / inherent / originally / classifier for books, periodicals, files etc

the whole course of an event from beginning to end / ins and outs / the fundamental and the incidental

tip / end / final stage / latter part / inessential detail / powder / dust / opera role of old man

to fall; to collapse; to lie horizontally / to fail; to go bankrupt / to overthrow / to change (trains or buses) / to move around / to resell at a profit

to invert; to place upside down or frontside back / to pour out / to tip out; to dump / inverted; upside down; reversed / to go backward / contrary to what one might expect; but; yet

to invert

to install / to place / to put / to buy