Meaning of red herring | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A herring that is cured in smoke and brine strong enough to turn the flesh red; a typeof kipper.
2. A clue, information, argument, etc. that is or is intended to be misleading, diverting attention from the real answer or issue.
   figuratively
3. A red herring prospectus.
4. A soldier.
   archaic, slang

Equivalents

Examples

“Up in the morning, and had some red herrings to our breakfast, while my boot-heel was a-mending, by the same token the boy left the hole as big as it was before.”

“‘Mamma,’ said Rosamond, ‘when Fred comes down I wish⟳ you would not let⟳ him have⟳ red herrings. I cannot bear⟳ the smell⟳ of them all over the house at this hour of the morning.’”

“Caroline visibly wavered for a second or two, much as a roulette ball might coyly hover between two numbers. Then she declined the tempting red herring.”

“By its thirtieth episode, the show⟳ [Twin Peaks] had degenerated into tics and shticks and mannerisms and red herrings, and part of the explanation for this was that [David] Lynch was trying to divert our attention from the fact that he really had no idea how to wrap⟳ the central murder⟳ case up.”

“I will, of course, turn⟳ my analytical talents to bear⟳ on the identity of the imitation Hathor, but in my opinion she is only a red herring – a nuisance, a distraction.”

“Colombia is a red herring, however. The songs that became Madame X actually came together during Madonna’s two years in Portugal, where she decamped in 2017 when her son David enrolled in Benfica’s football academy.”

““Devil a bit, Ma’am,” said the Major. “We couldn’t afford⟳ it. Unless the world was peopled with J.B.’s—tough and blunt old Joes, Ma’am, plain red herrings with hard roes, Sir—we couldn’t afford⟳ it. It wouldn’t do.””

CEFR level