hi to all you crazy people......?

Question

does anyone know where the phrase "red herring" comes from? thanks

Answer 1

A Red Herring is a fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the original issue.

Oxford English Dictionary records its first written use occurring in 1686 "To draw a red herring across the track used in fox hunting

Answer 2

The saying 'red herring' is a politically based phrase which is usually said 'to throw someone the red herring'.

A herring is a fish basically and comes from the 1800's regarding bloodhounds and British hunting. So when someone says 'you're throwing in a red herring', its a term to describe that you're adding something in the conversation to distract from the real topic at hand.

Answer 3

I Like:
British fugitives in the 1800s would rub a herring across their trail, thereby diverting the bloodhounds that were hot in pursuit. In the 1920s, American investment bankers started calling preliminary prospectuses "red herrings" as a warning to investors that the documents were not complete or final and could be misleading.

But check em all out

Answer 4

I've heard that a "red herring" in fox hunting days, was dragged across the fox's trail to fool the dogs into taking off on the wrong path.

Answer 5

Hi, you crazy one! herring is a small fish of reddish colour sometimes used to mis-guide the hounds.Redherring is a term used to describe a person that is introduced in court cases to take away the attention from the real culprit.

Answer 6

Heard the phrase but dont know where it comes from, sorry.

Answer 7

British fugitives in the 1800's used to rub bloody herrings across their trail to throw off bloodhounds.

Answer 8

I can only tell you that in french it is "hareng saur". Hareng is herring. Saur is from a 12th century word "soor" from Holland meaning smoked. So I think that "red herring" may means that if a herring is red it is because it changes its color when it is smoked over a fire. What do you think of that?

Answer 9

Nope

Answer 10

It's a bird isn't it, this would explain it anyway. A brid calling itself a herring, it's pretending to be something ti's not, = "Red Herring"..... maybe?