red-herring

noun

a smoked herring.

something intended to divert attention from the real problem or matter at hand; a misleading clue.

Also called red-herring prospectus. Finance. a tentative prospectus circulated by the underwriters of a new issue of stocks or bonds that is pending approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: so called because the front cover of such a prospectus must carry a special notice printed in red.

any similar tentative financial prospectus, as one concerning a pending or proposed sale of cooperative or condominium apartments.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To red-herring

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Red-herring is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

red herring

—n
1.	anything that diverts attention from a topic or line of inquiry
2.	a herring cured by salting and smoking

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

red herring

"smoked herring" early 15c. (they turn red when cured). Supposedly used by fugitives to put bloodhounds off the scent (1680s), hence metaphoric sense (1884) of "something used to divert attention from the basic issue."

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

red herring definition

In argument, something designed to divert an opponent's attention from the central issue. If a herring is dragged across a trail that hounds are following, it throws them off the scent.

Matching Quote

"Now wait a minute. You listen to me. I'm an advertising man, not a red herring. I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex- wives, and several bartenders dependent on me. And I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself slightly killed."

-Ernest Lehman

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