red herring etymology

The term was popularized in 1807 by English polemicist William Cobbett, who told a story of having used a strong-smelling smoked fish to divert and distract ...

The real origin is from 1807 in “Cobbett's Weekly Political Register” by William Cobbett. He wrote a presumably false story in which he claimed ...

6 maj 2021 — A favourite term in detective stories and 'whodunnits', a red herring refers to a deliberately misleading clue that diverts attention from the truth.

(figurative): One possible origin of the idiom was that red herring were used to train dogs to track scents. This was true, but the modern meaning of a ...

17 juni 2011 — I understand that "red herring" means something like a clue or indicator that is misleading. But where does this come from? What does a misleading clue ...

Originally of rubies, garnets, and other red jewels....In English the word was used of red, eruptive subcutaneous inflammations and tumors from late 14c....Also ...

The term ''red herring'' comes from an article written by a journalist in 1807. He described a likely fictional story in which he used a red herring (a smoked ...

31 maj 2023 — The actual origin of the figurative sense of the phrase can be traced back to the early 1800s. Around this time, English journalist William ...

Etymology. red herring something that distracts attention from the main issue, diversion. Last Updated: 21 Dec 2025 - Updated example sentences. Love words ...