主しゅ客かく転てん倒とう

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru'

reversing the order of importance; putting the cart before the horse; mistaking the means for the end

A yojijukugo describing a situation where the relative importance of things is reversed, or where the essential and the trivial are confused. Often used critically when priorities are wrong.

• 会かい議ぎの目もく的てきを見み失うしない、主しゅ客かく転てん倒とうの議ぎ論ろんになってしまった。

  We lost sight of the meeting's purpose and the discussion turned into a case of putting the cart before the horse.

• 細こまかいことにこだわりすぎて、主しゅ客かく転てん倒とうしている。

  You're so fixated on the details that you're mistaking the means for the end.