In a crime or mystery story, the author will sometimes put in misleading information so that the reader or viewer is diverted away from guessing which character is the real villain. It is thought to come from the practice of hunting foxes with a pack of dogs, where a smelly fish is dragged across the trail of the fox in order to mislead the dogs.
Red herrings can be used in other ways, where a phony secret is apparently allowed to slip out, as it was before the invasion of Normandy on D-Day in World War II. The Allies had leaked details of an entirely fictitious invasion group led by General George Patton, which tied down German defenses awaiting an attack (at Calais) that never came.
The color of the herring in the idiom "-herring" is red.
The fallacy of irrelevant reason is sometimes called the red herring fallacy. It involves diverting attention away from the main issue by introducing an irrelevant argument or point.
James Red Herring was born on 1896-03-19.
James Red Herring died on 1974-05-07.
Use a herring on the grand tree.
"The burgler placed her neighbors glove at the scene as a red herring."
The red herring fish and the ones you hear about in mystery books are actually one in the same. A red herring (mystery) got it's name because in older times, when a crime was committed, police used dogs to follow a scent, and the criminal would drag a red herring to throw off the dog's sense of smell and lead the police in the wrong direction. A red herring in a mystery is designed to throw the reader off the real answer.
a school of herring
Red herring is the Prospectus which converts into Red herring prospectus from Draft for red herring Prospectus after getting observations, and suggestions from SEBI, which is to filed and made available to SEBI, Stock Exchanges, and to Public, under the process of Initial Public Offering
"The city council is using the rezoning issue as a red herring to divert our attention from the budget deficit." "The report about rebels had been a red herring, because the attack had been staged by the dictator's own troops." "During the Watergate investigation, one promising lead turned out to be a red herring provided by the White House."
A 'red herring' is a false lead or clue, intended to lead the investigators in the wrong direction.
The first clue was a red herring, designed to intentionally detour the treasure hunters.