Upset the apple-cart
What's the meaning of the phrase 'Don't upset the apple-cart'?
To 'upset the apple-cart' is to cause upset - to create a difficulty.
What's the origin of the phrase 'Don't upset the apple-cart'?
This allusory phrase is first recorded by Jeremy Belknap in The History of New Hampshire, 1788:
"Adams had almost overset the apple-cart by intruding an amendment of his own fabrication on the morning of the day of ratification" [of the Constitution].
See other 'Don't...' proverbs:
Don't cast your pearls before swine
Don't change horses in midstream
Don't count your chickens before they are hatched
Don't cut off your nose to spite your face
Don't keep a dog and bark yourself
Don't let the cat out of the bag
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
Don't put the cart before the horse
Don't shut the stable door after the horse has bolted
Don't throw good money after bad