A “red herring” refers to something such as a clue that is deliberately meant to be distracting or misleading. It is mostly used in detective stories to refer to false leads that investigators waste time pursuing. The expression comes from the name given to dried smoked herring fish, which is called red herring because the smoking process had the effect of turning it red.
In the 17th century, red herring was mostly consumed by members of the lower classes. Hunters often used their hounds to hunt for small animals, such as hares. The problem was that these hounds would sometimes catch animals that belonged to poor farmers out in the country instead of wild ones. To protect their animals from hunters and their hounds, the farmers would hide a red herring deep in the woods. The hounds would pursue the strong scent of the red herring over long distances instead of looking for prey, and the hunters would be disappointed to find a red herring at the end of their trek.
