# Red herring

*Also called: Ignoratio elenchi, irrelevant conclusion*

- **Cluster:** Distraction and distortion — Moving the argument somewhere easier to win
- **Page:** https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/red-herring/
- **In Arabic:** https://fallacy.wiki/ar/fallacy/red-herring.md
- **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## What it is

Introducing a side issue that draws attention away from the question at hand.

## In the wild

> Why worry about the deadline when the office coffee is terrible?

## How to answer it

Return to the original question out loud and park the new topic for later.

## Origin and naming

A red herring is a heavily smoked fish with a strong smell. The idiom was popularized by the journalist William Cobbett in 1807, in a story about dragging a kipper across a trail to pull hounds off the scent — the fish that leads the dogs astray.

## More places it shows up

- Asked about the hospital's infection rates, the health minister praises the dedication of the nursing staff at length.
- Questioned about a product's security flaw, the company's statement explains how many jobs it supports in the region.
- A roommate asked about the unpaid rent launches into how rarely anyone else does the dishes.
- A council member, pressed on a missing infrastructure budget, delivers a heartfelt speech about the town's proud history.

## How to spot it

- Notice when the reply is fluent, emotional and entirely compatible with every possible answer to the question.
- Notice when you can't restate the original question from the response you just heard.
- Notice when the new topic is easier to defend than the one raised — that's why it was raised.

## Nearby

- [Whataboutism](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/whataboutism.md)
- [Gish gallop](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/gish-gallop.md)
- [Straw man](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/straw-man.md)

## Read more

- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring)

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From fallacy.wiki — a bilingual field guide to 91 logical fallacies, published by phi holdings. Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse freely with attribution to fallacy.wiki.