From where do we get the term 'red herring'?

Baloo55th

It comes from kippers! A red herring is an alternative name for a kipper. As red herrings are quite strong smelling, to grag one along the ground where dogs were going to be in action would upset the trail. This could be in foxhunting - sabotage? - or in drag hunting (where the dogs follow the trail laid by a man dragging a bag of aniseed or similar smelly stuff around the countryside. The kipper smell would lead the dogs astray on a 'red herring'. Mar 19 03, 5:46 PM

Chi06

From: Loose Cannons and Red Herrings, A Book of Lost Metaphors, by Rober Claiborne. 'The flesh of a herring that has been cured in salt has a strong reddish color. These fish, though tasty, have a powerful odor before being cooked, and at one time were used to train hunting dogs to follow a scent. Moreover, if a red herring was dragged across the trail of an animal the dogs wer pursuing, they'd chase the herring rather than the game. A 'red herring across the trail'has therefore long had the sense of a deliberate distraction, as in an argument. 'Following World War I, the red herring became an actual Red: politicians began distracting the voters (or smearing their opponents) with talk of the 'Red Menace' of communism--which in the Western World, at least, turned out to be one of the most over-rated menaces in history. But polticians still find the red herring useful for throwing the voters off the scent of official misconduct--or justifying it.' In my personal opinion and usage, a red herring is used to distract from the point at hand. Mar 19 03, 5:46 PM