A Czech equivalent to “you’re barking up the wrong tree” translates to “you’re weeping on the wrong grave.” A Portuguese version is “you’re knocking on the wrong door.” And my favourite Mandarin version is “you’re climbing a tree seeking fish”
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“procurar pelo em ovo “ ou “procurar chifre em cavalo” são expressões que conheci nas redes sociais. “bater na porta errada “ é a que conheço desde a infância
"Anyway, 10:30, the other night, I go out in my yard, and there's
The Wurster kid, looking up in the tree. I say, 'What are
You looking for?' He says 'I'm looking for my burrow owl.'
I say, 'Jumping Jesus on a Pogo Stick. Everybody knows
The burrow owl lives. In a hole. In the ground!'"
“Du bist auf dem Holzweg” in German. It means following a path that is exclusively meant to transport the wood from the forest. If you follow it on a hike, you won’t arrive at your destination.
There's also one that says: "Da bist du aber auf dem falschen Dampfer." translates to: "You're on the wrong steamboat." The Meaning doesn't refer exclusively to a confrontal conversation but to an error in general.
Að fara í geitarhús að leita ullar
To go to a goat house looking for wool
It's less common nowadays but it's well known and used. More used in print than colloquially and then as above, neutrally rather than in the second person
Looking for an honest politician is like going to a goat house…
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1. "Eye drops in the buttocks"
(尻に目薬:Shiri-ni megusuri)
2. "Looking for clam in farmland"
(畑に蛤:Hatake-ni hamaguri)
but has to involve a beaver and a moose
VOCE ESTÁ PROCURANDO PÊLO EM OVO!
(You're looking for horns on a horse's head)
"You're seeking for fur on an egg"
The Wurster kid, looking up in the tree. I say, 'What are
You looking for?' He says 'I'm looking for my burrow owl.'
I say, 'Jumping Jesus on a Pogo Stick. Everybody knows
The burrow owl lives. In a hole. In the ground!'"
To go to a goat house looking for wool
It's less common nowadays but it's well known and used. More used in print than colloquially and then as above, neutrally rather than in the second person
Looking for an honest politician is like going to a goat house…