Idiom
Red herring
A red herring is a clue, fact or topic that pulls attention away from the real issue, often on purpose.
How people use it
People call something a red herring when it distracts from the question that actually matters. Mystery writers plant red herrings to make readers suspect the wrong character, and in an argument someone may bring up a red herring to avoid a hard point. Common patterns are "be a red herring," "turn out to be a red herring" and "throw in a red herring." A red herring does not have to be deliberate: a clue that simply misleads people can be called one too. The phrase is neutral and works in casual talk, journalism and formal writing about logic.
Examples
- The missing key turned out to be a red herring, because the thief came in through the window.
- Let's not let the parking question become a red herring when we should be talking about safety.
- Good mystery writers plant a red herring or two in the first few chapters.
Where it comes from
A red herring is a herring that has been smoked and salted until it turns reddish brown and smells very strong. Hunting manuals from the late 1600s describe dragging a strong-smelling bait, including a red herring, along the ground to train hounds to follow a scent. The figurative sense of a misleading distraction was spread in the early 1800s by the English journalist William Cobbett, who told a story about using a red herring to throw hounds off a hare's trail. Whether escaped prisoners really used herrings to fool dogs is doubtful.
Check yourself
1. In a detective story, what is a red herring?
Answer: A false clue that misleads readers. A red herring pulls attention away from the real solution.
2. Which sentence uses the idiom correctly?
Answer: The muddy boots were a red herring, since the gardener was innocent all along.. A red herring is a misleading clue, which fits the boots, not tiredness or scoring.
Similar idioms
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