Talk:Red herring

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Revision as of 19:05, 30 March 2008 by imported>Benjamin Breakstone
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 Definition:  A literary device that deliberately or unintentionally diverts attention from a line of enquiry, topic, or suspect. [d] [e]
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 Workgroup categories:  Literature and Visual Arts [Editors asked to check categories]
 Talk Archive:  none  English language variant:  American English

Very rough outline:

Red herring - General definition of the term as a plot device

Etymology - Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (R 803 Br): "A deliberate or sometimes unintentional diversion, which distracts from a line of enquiry or a topic under discussion. A red herring (i.e. one dried, smoked, and salted) drawn across a fox's path destroys the scent and faults the hounds".

Early example of phrase being used in sense of "plot device" if possible.

Example from Detective_fiction

Possibly an example of a visual red herring from film?

Benjamin Breakstone 19:05, 30 March 2008 (CDT)

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