red herring

1. A smoked herring having a reddish color.
2. Something that draws attention away from the central issue.

[From its use to distract hunting dogs from the trail.]

Herrings that have been well salted and smoked for about ten days. Bloaters are salted less and smoked for a shorter time; kippers lightly salted and smoked overnight. Also called Yarmouth bloaters.

Something that draws attention away from the central issue, as in Talking about the new plant is a red herring to keep us from learning about downsizing plans. The herring in this expression is red and strong-smelling from being preserved by smoking. The idiom alludes to dragging a smoked herring across a trail to cover up the scent and throw off tracking dogs. [Late 1800s]

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue

Meaning #2: a dried and smoked herring having a reddish color
  Synonym: smoked herring

Look up red herring in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Red herring may refer to:

• Kipper, a fish having been dried, smoked, and salted
• Red herring (idiom), a deliberate attempt to divert attention
• Red herring (logical fallacy), a deliberate attempt to change a subject or divert an argument
• Red Herring (magazine), a magazine focused on the new technology businesses
• The Red Herring, a comedy magazine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada
• Red herring prospectus, a preliminary financial prospectus offering a new stock (in red type)
• Red Herring Artists, an artist's collective based in Brighton, England
• Red Herring Surf, a brand of surfwear in Tasmania, Australia
• A character in the cartoon series A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
• A villain in The Tick (animated TV series). Short part in the beginning of episode 201 "The Little Wooden Boy and the Belly of Love".

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