Barking up the wrong tree: Difference between revisions

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{{Wiktionary|bark up the wrong tree}}

'''Barking up the wrong tree''' is an [[idiomatic|idiomatic expression]] in English, which is used to suggest a mistaken emphasis in a specific context. The phrase is an allusion to the mistake made by dogs when they believe they have [[Treeing|chased a prey up a tree]], but the game may have escaped by leaping from one tree to another.<ref>Walsh, William Shepard. (1909). [httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=hrJkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA80&dq= ''Handy-book of literary curiosities,'' p. 80.]</ref> The phrase means to mistake one's object, or to pursue the wrong course to obtain it.

In other words, "if you are barking up the wrong tree, it means that you have completely misunderstood something or are totally wrong."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/barking+up+the+wrong+tree.html|title=Barking up the wrong tree - Idiom Definition |work=UsingEnglish.com |accessdate=2016-01-20}}</ref>

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* 1833 &ndash; "It doesn't take a Philadelphia lawyer to tell that the man who serves the master one day, and the enemy six, has just six chances out of seven to go to the devil. You are ''barking up the wrong tree,'' Johnson."—James Hall, ''Legends of the West,'' p.&nbsp;46.<ref name="Thornton43">Thornton, Richard H. and Louise Hanley. (1912). ''An American glossary,'' p. 43.</ref>

* 1833 &ndash; "I told him that he reminded me of the meanest thing on God's earth, an old coon dog ''barking up the wrong tree''." -- ''Sketches of David Crockett," p. 58. (New York).<ref name="Thornton43"/>

*1834 &ndash; "[The Indians] to use a Western phrase, ''barked up the wrong tree'' when they got hold of Tom Smith." <ref>{{cite book|last=Pike|first=Albert|title=Prose Sketches and Poems Written in the Western Country|publisher=Publisher Kessinger Publishing|year=2003|pages=30|isbn=978-0-7661-4465-1|url=httphttps://books.google.ie/books?id=kGebqlS7J78C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Prose+Sketches+and+Poems+Written+in+the+Western+Country&cd=1#v=snippet&q=barked&f=false|accessdate=2010-01-18}}</ref>

* 1836 &ndash; "You've been ''barking up the wrong tree,'' cried the Ohioan." -- ''Knickerbocker Magazine,'' p. vii. 15 January 1836.<ref name="Thornton43"/>

* 1838 &ndash; "Instead of having treed their game, gentlemen will find themselves still ''barking up the wrong tree''." -- Mr. Duncan of Ohio in the [[United States House of Representatives]], July 7: ''Congressional Globe,'' p. 474, Appendix.<ref name="Thornton43"/>