Red herring

[Michael Quinion]

In World Wide Words, I'm often a reporter of language research carried out
by others. Today, I seem to have unworthily become the source of the story
in a piece by Heidi Stevens in the Chicago Tribune about the origin of
"red herring":

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/tribu/ct-tribu-words-work-herring-
20110202,0,399112.story

Thank heavens that the piece does actually namecheck Comments on Etymology
and Gerald Cohen, though I am saddened to see that Robert Scott Ross's
work isn't cited.

--
Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
Web: http://www.worldwidewords.org

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