'''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). [https://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>
==Historical usage==
* 1833 – "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. 46.<ref name="Thornton43">Thornton, Richard H. and Louise Hanley. (1912). ''An American glossary,'' p. 43.</ref>
