Barking up the wrong tree

Origin: The idiom 'Barking up the wrong tree' originates from early 19th century America, where hunting with dogs was common. Sometimes, dogs would mistakenly bark at the base of a tree, believing their prey was up there, when in fact, the animal had escaped to another tree. This led to the expression being used for any mistaken pursuit or false assumption.

Examples

• When she accused her colleague of stealing her lunch, she was barking up the wrong tree; it was actually misplaced in another fridge.
• The detective was barking up the wrong tree by focusing on the wrong suspect while the real criminal went unnoticed.
• If you think you can resolve this complex issue with a quick fix, you're barking up the wrong tree.
• He thought his poor performance was due to lack of talent, but he was barking up the wrong tree; it was actually due to insufficient practice.
• Investors were barking up the wrong tree by pouring money into a failing project without understanding the market trends.
• She realized she had been barking up the wrong tree by blaming her team for the project's delay, when it was actually due to her mismanagement.
• The coach was barking up the wrong tree by pushing the team to train harder, ignoring the need for strategic planning.
• His parents were barking up the wrong tree, thinking his bad grades were due to laziness when it was actually a sign of undiagnosed dyslexia.
• The company was barking up the wrong tree by targeting an audience that had no interest in its products.
• By focusing on the minor errors in the report, he was barking up the wrong tree and missing the overall excellent analysis.