What does it mean when something is a Red Herring?

Answer 1

It is a whole unsplit Kipper.

Answer 2

A red herring is something that is thrown in to distract you from the truth.

As an example, when you watch a movie, the circumstantial clues might lead lead you to believe person A commited the murder when in actual fact it was person B.

Answer 3

A red herring is a false clue that is deliberately left in order to lead those who follow into a dead end. It originated with the practice of using herring to try to trick/ refine a hunting dog's sense of smell, and skill in tracking. Modern usage normally applies not to actual hunting, but mostly to literary/political/business practices that are designed to fool competition, etc.

Answer 4

Red herrings are a very smelly fish and throw sniffer dogs off a scent trail, I think they were dragged across the trail so that the dogs lost it. So I guess it's modern day use means to throw you off the correct way of thinking and make you think of something else - like a distraction.

Answer 5

Typically a literary term when the author leads the reader to believe a character (often in a crime/mystery novel) is the perpetrator, when in reality it is someone far less suspect.

Answer 6

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