does anybody know the relevance and origin of the saying `barking up a ban yan tree'? thanks.?

Question

can you tell me where this saying comes from and what it may mean. thanks again.

Answer 1

Well, down South dogs would be used to hunt raccoons. They'd chase them all over the woods until the raccoon finally ran up a tree. The dogs would bark, and that would alert the hunter where to find his dogs.

Raccoons are pretty smart, though, and quite agile. They'd often manage to jump to another tree, or sometimes to the ground without the dogs noticing.

So, when the hunter arrived, the dogs would be barking, but barking up the wrong tree. The raccoon had escaped.

Answer 2

Barking up any tree obviously cant produce an answer, I think a Ban Yan tree maybe does not exist, so barking up a tree that does not exist is EVEN less likely to produce an answer

Answer 3

I've never heard that saying with the "banyan" bit, but "barking up a tree" refers to a dog barking at something in the tree that it can't get...so it is like doing something that won't get you anywhere.

Banyan trees are huuuuuuge trees that spread...they send out shoots from above that root on the ground, and then those spread out...you get the picture. Here's a photo of a banyan tree: http://www.eikongraphia.com/wordpress/wp-content/Banyan%20Tree.jpg