bark up the wrong tree

Meaning: (idiomatic)To take thewrongapproachto asituation; to follow afalselead; to attempt to solve a problem usingmistakenassumptionsabout its true nature.The investigator spent days trying to prove the butler committed the murder, but it turns out he wasbarking up the wrong tree.1894,Robert Barr, chapter 21, inIn the Midst of Alarms:You're not the first man who has made such a mistake, and found he wasbarking up the wrong tree.1915,John Buchan, chapter 10, inThe Thirty-Nine Steps:They all went into the house, and left me feeling a precious idiot. I had beenbarking up the wrong treethis time.1922,William MacLeod Raine, chapter 19, inMan Size:"We want West. He's a cowardly murderer—killed the man who trusted him." . . ."Of course we may bebarking up the wrong tree," the officer reflected aloud. "Maybe West isn't within five hundred miles of here."2008September 2,Ken Russell, “Let my life flash before you, in paperback”, inTimes Online, UK, retrieved1 October 2010:After three failed marriages I realised that I may have beenbarking up the wrong treeand should abandon the search for the perfect wife.

Examples:

EN: But be careful not to bark up the wrong tree.
ES: Pero ten cuidado, no veas señales donde no las hay.
EN: You people bark up the wrong tree about the old man's property.
ES: Ustedes están equivocados respecto a la propiedad del anciano.
ID: Kalian semua salah mempermainkan barang orang tua itu.
EN: Then the police will bark up the wrong tree.
ES: ¡Y si haces esto, los estarás perjudicando!
ID: Kalau begitu, polisi akan salam paham!
EN: Should I let her bark up the wrong tree?
ES: ¿La dejo ladrar el árbol equivocado?
ID: Haruskah aku membiarkannya menggonggong ke pohon yang salah?
EN: Some detectives bark up the wrong tree in the most idiotic way.
ES: Algunos detectives ladran el árbol equivocado De la manera más idiota.
ID: Detektif salah menuduh dengan cara paling bodoh.
EN: Don't bark up the wrong tree.
ES: No ladres al árbol equivocado.
ES: No le ladres al árbol equivocado.
ID: Jangan asal tuduh.
ID: Jangan asal tebak!
EN: It'd be embarrassing for the prosecution to bark up the wrong tree.
ES: Sería vergonzoso que el fiscal acuse a un inocente.
ID: Akan sangat memalukan jika kau salah sasaran.
EN: Things can never work out between you two, so don't bark up the wrong tree.
ES: Las cosas nunca pueden funcionar entre ustedes dos, así que no ladre al árbol equivocado.
ID: Kalian berdua tidak akan bisa berhubungan dengan baik, jadi jangan melakukan hal sia-sia.
EN: Why would I bark up the wrong tree, when I have thief in my heart.
HI: माखन लेकर क्या करूँ, जब माखन चोर है मेरे पास।
EN: English-Indonesian bark up the wrong tree
HI: हिंदी-अंग्रेजी ने दूर कर दी आती हुई मेरिट
EN: - You bark up the wrong tree, dog.
ID: - [Telepon] kau menggonggong orang yang salah, anjing.
EN: Does your whole family bark up the wrong tree?
ID: Apa seluruh keluargamu salah paham?
ID: Apa seluruh keluargamu salah paham?
EN: What if I bark up the wrong tree again like last time?
ID: Bagaimana jika aku salah lagi seperti kali terakhir?
EN: Don't bark up the wrong tree just because you feel upset.
ID: Jangan salah paham hanya karena kau kesal.
ID: Jangan salah paham hanya karena kau kesal.
EN: You don't want to "bark up the wrong tree" again.
TE: "నువ్వు ఎక్కి ఆడుకోవడానికి నా చెట్టు మొదలు కూడా లేదు "అంది చెట్టు.

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).