English · Idiom Historical

To go round Robin Hood's barn

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To arrive at the right conclusion by very roundabout methods.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

đạt kết luận đúng bằng phương pháp vòng vo

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “To go round Robin Hood's barn” mean?

To arrive at the right conclusion by very roundabout methods.

Is “To go round Robin Hood's barn” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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