<P> A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important issue . It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences towards a false conclusion . A red herring might be intentionally used, such as in mystery fiction or as part of rhetorical strategies (e.g. in politics), or it could be inadvertently used during argumentation . </P> <P> The origin of the expression is unknown . Conventional wisdom has long supposed it to be the use of a kipper (a strong - smelling smoked fish) to train hounds to follow a scent, or to divert them from the correct route when hunting; however, modern linguistic research suggests that the term was probably invented in 1807 by English polemicist William Cobbett, referring to one occasion on which he had supposedly used a kipper to divert hounds from chasing a hare, and was never an actual practice of hunters . The phrase was later borrowed to provide a formal name for the logical fallacy and literary device . </P>

What is the meaning of a red herring