Have you ever used the phrase "red herring" and known what it meant but never knew where the phrase came from?
me too!
So I looked into it.
Apparently it goes back to the old hunting traditions (here in England) and poachers would drag a ripe red herring (smelly!) across the fox's trail to throw the dogs' noses off the scent. According to Wordorigins.org "A red herring was chosen because dog trainers often used the pungent fish to create a trail when training their hounds. The dogs, upon encountering the herring scent, would follow that trail as it was the one they had been trained with."
so there you have it.
Posted by kristen at October 15, 2004 11:53 AM