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From: Jack Hamilton <jfh@acm.org>
Newsgroups: alt.languages.english
Subject: Re: [Idioms #17] red herring
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 21:36:55 -0800
Organization: Copyright (c) 2004 by Jack Hamilton. Reproduction without attribution and archiving without permission are not allowed.
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Enrico C <enrico.c@spamcop.net> wrote:
>Jack Hamilton | alt.languages.english
>in <news:j3ci10hnvge8sjrcddal4givl6vkjmva60@4ax.com>
>
>> Enrico C <enrico.c@spamcop.net> wrote:
>>
>>>"It's a red herring that misguided people throw up to distract you
>>>from the real issues."
>>
>> I don't think that "throw" is part of the idiom - it just happened to be
>> used in some of your examples. "Throw" is typically not used with "red
>> herring".
>
>Yeah, I see you're right. "Throw" is not part of the "red herring"
>idiom, actually.
>
>In fact, you can say "it's a red herring", for instance, without
>"throwing" any red minnow into the conversation :D
>
>Therefore, I've changed the Subject of this post consequently.
>
>Anyway, isn't "throw" a typical action in this case?
I think it's more often used with some form of "to be": "There was a
footprint under the window, but it was a red herring."
>What else can you *do* with red herrings?
You can plant them.
>Just asking :)
--
In the end, more than they wanted freedom, they wanted comfort and security.
And in the end, they lost it all - freedom, comfort and security.
Edward Gibbons
--
Jack Hamilton
jfh@acm.org
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