‘barking up the wrong tree’ (1832)
1800S, EXPRESSION, UNCATEGORIZED
The expression barking up the wrong tree (1832) first appeared in a book ‘Legends of the West’, by writer James Hall. It appeared the following year in ‘Sketches of Davy Crockett’ (1833).
Adventure tales such as these epitomized the frontier tradition of ornate tall talk (1869) – plain but exaggerated speaking full of hyperbole, braggadocio and drama rendering everyday life in the open country.
The expression comes from the practice of hunting with a dog or dogs and cornering an animal up a tree – only to find out later that it has scampered off along the branches and is no longer there, even though you are. In other words, it means ‘wasting your time’.
This form of rich expression was typical of the US in the 1800s. Today, perhaps the best place in the world for this type of linguistic playfulness is found in modern-day Australia, where they come up on a daily basis with expressions such as “lower than a snake’s belly”, “budgie-smugglers”, “dead-cat bounce” and “prices went up and down like a bride’s nightie”.
The American West would provide many equally good expressions over the next century, expressions that embodied the slick confidence of many in the West enabled by an environment of unconstrained linguistic democracy that had not existed since perhaps Shakespeare’s day.
Photo by Caleb Woods on Unsplash
