neither fish nor fowl

I've heard this bit, but without the red herring!

Which led me to wondering where "red herring" came from, to which M-W answered:

Main Entry: red herring
Function: noun
Date: 15th century
1 : a herring cured by salting and slow smoking to a dark brown color
2 [from the practice of drawing a red herring across a trail to confuse hunting dogs] : something that distracts attention from the real issue.

Would too many red herring(s) lead you on a wild goose chase?

Oh, and I think it's "neither fair wind nor foul".