Red Herring

When indulging in a true English breakfast you cannot do better than to include a hot kipper. The ideal supplements are softly beaten scrambled eggs, rye bread, and fragrant tea. The kipper, a brine-pickled, cold-smoked herring, classically split in a butterfly fashion, is a genuine delicacy. This is particularly true when it originates from the west coast of Scotland – which makes it a British breakfast, I guess, although the Brexit negotiations seem to stall at the moment. Preserving food by smoking is a very old technique usually applied when perishables become available in huge quantities for a limited time – such as herrings. The kipper's attractive red color should be induced by a proper strong brine, not by artificial coloring. This original hue, in turn, led to the alternative denomination “red herring,” which takes us from the breakfast table to the writing desk.

In literature a “red herring” means a fallacy or distraction leading the reader toward a false conclusion. The history of this idiom is generally thought to be an allusion to a technique used for training hounds to keep following a particular faint scent during a hunt. A red herring is drawn perpendicular to the original trail to confuse and divert the dog with its strong aroma. The aim of the training is for the animal to learn to stick to the weak original trail, however strong the distraction may be. This explanation is heavily debated, not only by dog trainers, but also by etymologists. There seems to be alternative evidence from the 17th century that laying out a trace using a pungent fish or carcass was used to train horses, not the dogs, to keep on a track during a hunt rather than to divert them.

Popular in mystery novels for a good reason to increase suspense, the red herring has also found its way into the scientific literature, used both intentionally and inadvertently. Consider, for instance, the following conclusion of a laboratory study which investigated the effect of various asphalt levels in cardioplegic solutions on isolated myocytes: “An asphalt level of > 125 pg/mL was found to significantly extend the safe myocardial ischemic time. A retrograde application via the coronary sinus is recommended.” Given that the results did in fact show a beneficial effect on the poor myocytes, the questions remain why and if this makes the ischemic time “safe”. And in an isolated cell model you simply cannot examine effects of the application mode in living hearts, even if this is the investigator's impression from his daily clinical routine. Both fish are certainly out of place here, which still leaves you speculating about their intent.

In politics, red herrings abound in their natural habitat of huge shoals. Internal problems with unemployment? Why not kindle an external crisis with a neighbor to distract the public? And this is just one classical example which has worked for centuries. As it seems, our intensely colored fish seem to be particular fertile in the present age, and it is a moot point to ponder about details and reasons.

In case you wondered: the subclause in the introduction “although the Brexit negotiations seem to stall at the moment” was a red herring. It has nothing to do with our subject or in that context. Enjoy your breakfast.

Publication History

Article published online:
15 December 2020