User:MrsHayward/Barking up the Wrong Tree

Barking up the wrong tree is an American idiomatic expression which is used to suggest a mistaken emphasis in a specific context. The phrase is a allusion to the mistake made by dogs when they believe that have chased a prey up a tree, but the game may have escaped by leaping from one tree to another. The phrase means to mistake one's object, or to pursue the wrong course to obtain it.

Meaning
Making a mistake or a false assumption in something you are trying to achieve.

In other words, "if you are barking up the wrong tree, it means that you have completely misunderstood something or are totally wrong."

Origin
James Kirke Paulding wrote the earliest printed citation in his book "Westard Ho!" in 1832: "Here he made a note in his book, and I begun to smoke him for one of those fellows that drive a sort of a trade of making books about old Kentuck and the western country: so I thought I'd set him barking up the wrong tree a little, and I told him some stories that were enough to set the Mississippi a-fire; but he put them all down in his book."

In 1832 James Hall wrote the following in his "Legends of the West": "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."

In "Sketches and eccentricities of Col. David Crockett, of West Tennessee". New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833 it is stated of Davy Crockett "I told him...that he reminded me of the meanest thing on God's earth, an old coon dog, barking up the wrong tree." ascribed to J.S. French by E.A. Poe. cf. Southern literary messenger, v. 2, 1835-36, p. 589. A "Narrative of the Life of David Crockett" by David Crockett, Philadelphia, E. L. Carey and A. Hart; Baltimore, Carey, Hart & co., 1834, contains the sentence, "I began to think I was barking up the wrong tree again."

Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas (1836)A pseudo-autobiography, generally ascribed to Richard Penn Smith. (cf. Sabin. Amer. bibl., v. 20, p. 471; Burton's Gentleman's magazine, Philadelphia, 1839, v. 5, p. 119-121; Dict. Amer. biog., includes the remark, "Job, little dreaming that he was barking up the wrong tree, shoved along another bottle."

The phrase appears to have become popular in the USA when it appeared in several USA newspapers throughout the 1830s. The Gettysburg newspaper The Adams Sentinel, March 1834 printed the followin: "Gineral you are barkin' up the wrong tree this time, for I jest see that rackoon jump to the next tree, and afore this he is a mile off in the woods.

Treeing

Recent Usage
Barking up the Wrong Tree has been frequently in recent years:

TV Series

 * The Apprentice (U.S. season 2) Week 7: Barking Up the Wrong Tree
 * The Animated video series Neverending Nights season 2 episode 13
 * The Three Friends and Jerry is an animated television series which aired in the United States with "Barking up the Tree" as its 8th episode
 * Moesha 5th Episodes is "Barking Up the Wrong Tree”

Music

 * Camille Jones - third album "Barking Up The Wrong Tree" released in Scandinavia in 2008
 * The Show is the Rainbow a music act from Lincoln, NE, A.K.A Darren Keen called their first Radboyz Only!!! Which featured "Barking up the Wrong Tree" as the first song.
 * 6 Feet Under is a compilation album by Gravediggaz, the 14th track is "Barking Up The Wrong Tree"
 * Dumptruck's album "For The Country" has Barking up the Wrong Tree as its 11th track.
 * Gilbert O'Sullivan "Barking Up The Wrong Tree (Such Is Life)" is the second track on the album Piano Foreplay released September 2003.
 * Don Woody's 2010 album 'You're Barking Up The Wrong Tree' features the album title as the first track. The song, "Barking up the Wrong Tree" was originally the "B" side to "Bird Dog" released by Decca records in 1956.

Publications
There are a number of publications including books, articles, and comics that make use of the phrase "Barking up the Wrong Tree":


 * Huff, Richard (2007-03-30). "TV Watchdog is Barking up the Wrong Tree". New York Daily News, Saturday, March 31st 2007. . Retrieved 2007-11-29.


 * Cross, Tom, "Barking Up the Wrong Tree", CircleID, Jun 28, 2004


 * "Barking Up the Wrong Tree – Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction in Retail Banking in the UK", International Journal of Applied Marketing (ISSN: 1742-2612) Volume 1 Issue 1 Page 5


 * Smugglers Britain, Guide-Book: South-West England, Plymouth to Falmouth, Cawsand and Kingsand, makes reference to the customs authorities as believing they were “barking up the wrong tree”.


 * Craig Rosebraugh as restaurant owner was defended by some employees in a union dispute when they stated that the IWW union as misguided and "barking up the wrong tree."


 * Welsh, Nick, "Barking Up the Wrong Tree", Wednesday, November 29, 2006, the Santa Barbara Independent is an article about local city planning in Santa Barbara


 * "Hyperammonemic Coma—Barking Up the Wrong Tree" by Doron Rimar, MD,corresponding author, Eti Kruzel-Davila, MD, Guy Dori, MD, PhD, Elzbieta Baron, MD, and Haim Bitterman, MD; © Society of General Internal Medicine 2007; is about Hyperammonemia which has been described in hypothyroidism.

Books

 * Bowers, Brian. "Barking Up the Wrong (Electric Motor) Tree" Journal: Proceedings of the IEEE - PIEEE, vol. 92, no. 2, pp. 388-392, 2004, DOI: 10.1109/JPROC.2003.821901
 * , "Barking up the wrong tree", The Ottawa Citizen, November 29, 2005, © (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
 * The comedian, Chelsea Handler uses Barking up the Wrong Tree as a chapter title in her book Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler, Simon Spotlight Entertainment, USA, 2008, ISBN= 978-1416954125, dewey= 306.7092 22, congress= HQ801 .H3193 2008
 * The ebook, "The Baynes Legacy - Book 5 - Barking Up The Wrong Tree" by Stacy, 2010 is a supernatural romance story, the latest in a series books on the Baynes Legacy.

Comics
The horror comic anthology series The Haunt of Fear published by EC Comics in the early 1950s in issue 8 (July/August 1951) a husband was found to be barking up the wrong tree.

Politically

 * With Regards to the Kashmir Conflict, Obama, According to The Financial Times, India has warned Obama that he risks "barking up the wrong tree" if he seeks to broker a settlement between Pakistan and India over Kashmir.


 * "Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Trade and Social Clause Links" by Chakravarthi Raghavan, published in the South-North Development Monitor, is about trade and development throughout the world.


 * "Barking up the wrong tree" by Jan de Lange, fin24, Dec 02 2010 20:57 is about economic development.

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.
 * 1833 – "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).
 * 1834 – "[The Indians] to use a Western phrase, barked up the wrong tree when they go hold of Tom Smith."
 * 1836 – "You've been barking up the wrong tree, cried the Ohioan." -- Knickerbocker Magazine, p. vii. 15 January 1936.
 * 1838 – "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.
 * 1839 – "The same reckless indifference which causes a puppy to bark up the wrong tree. -- Chemung (NY) Democrat,'' September 18. 1839.