red herring

n.

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.]

(red HER-ing)

noun
A misleading clue; something used to divert attention from the real issue.

Etymology
From the former practice of drawing a smoked herring across the track to teach hounds not to be distracted from other scents.

Usage
"When I hear hysterical opposition from some self-styled leaders in the business community to such a common-sense policy as the living wage, I have to shake my head. They trot out all the tired old red herrings about the living wage being bad for business or adversely affecting the business climate or even causing layoffs." — Terry Lierman, `Living Wage' Is Good for Workers and Businesses, The Washington Post, Mar 21, 2002.

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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]

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