red herring
an unimportant matter that draws attention away from the main subject
TRANSLATION
Ablenkungsmanöver
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"Examples (a) and (b) above were red herrings trying to distract you away from the correct answer"
Did you
know?
red herring
This marvelous idiom means a "false trail" and you need to look to the late 17th century to understand it:
In 1686, a gentleman's magazine described a good way to fool a hound and prolong a foxhunt: drag a dead cat across the trail to mask the fox's scent. If no cat was available drag a red herring, because a smoked and salted red herring's odour will also mask the fox's scent. Therefore, a fake clue (set with the intention of deliberately deceiving someone) is called a "red herring."
This marvelous idiom means a "false trail" and you need to look to the late 17th century to understand it:
In 1686, a gentleman's magazine described a good way to fool a hound and prolong a foxhunt: drag a dead cat across the trail to mask the fox's scent. If no cat was available drag a red herring, because a smoked and salted red herring's odour will also mask the fox's scent. Therefore, a fake clue (set with the intention of deliberately deceiving someone) is called a "red herring."
