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| Colorful English! | ||||
| Word or Phrase: | Part of Speech: | Idiom or General?: | Usage? | Restricted? |
| red herring | Noun | 1) general 2) idiomatic | 1)
not so common 2) fairly common | No |
| Meaning: | ||||
| 1)
a fish (herring) which is smoked and salted and generally dark brown in
color 2) an act or thing which distracts attention from something else | ||||
| Example(s): | ||||
| 1) To be
honest, I have never eaten red herring. 2) The hackers threw so many red herring at the police that they could easily escape being caught. | ||||
| Note: this idiom comes from an old practice of dragging a fish across a trail to confuse dogs which may be following. | ||||