Barking Up the Wrong Tree

BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE

welcome to English in Minute!

When you hear this saying, it might make you think about dogs.

BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE

dogs bark. But , are these two friends talking about dogs, or people?

Did you hear that sam is trying to get a raise from his supervisor?

Yes! He ‘s “barking up the wrong tree .”

Only the manager can give him a raise!

“Barking up the wrong tree “ means to place attention on the wrong thing.

It comes from 19th century America when people often hunted with dogs.

The dogs would hunt animals called raccoons.

They could escape up a tree, with the dog barking on the ground.

But, raccoons could also jump to other trees, leaving the dog to “Bark up the wrong tree “

And that’s English in a minute!