lead someone up the garden path

Probably a reference to the fact that a garden path is often winding instead of direct.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈliːd ˌsʌmwʌn ˈʌp ðə ˈɡɑːdn̩ pɑːθ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlid ˌsʌmwʌn ˈʌp ðə ˈɡɑɹdən ˌpæθ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lead some‧one up the gar‧den path

lead someone up the garden path (third-person singular simple present leads someone up the garden path, present participle leading someone up the garden path, simple past and past participle led someone up the garden path)

1. (idiomatic) To deceive, hoodwink, mislead, or seduce someone.

   Synonyms: lead someone down the garden path, lead someone up the garden

   • 1969, Erich Kästner, translated by Cyrus Brooks, Lottie and Lisa, New York, N.Y.: Knopf, →OCLC:

     "You're a pair of conspiring females," he growled. "A fine couple of contriving minxes! You've even led my Peterkin up the garden path."

• garden path sentence

• “to lead (a person) up the garden (path), phrase” under “garden, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2017.
• “lead someone up the garden path, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.