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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Red-herring words #31700 06/11/2001 4:34 AM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 142 Wordsmith member Wordsmith member Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 142 The word sextet has nothing to do with sex, unless of course, the six people in question engage in some questionable calisthenics. That's what the English language does--often leading us on only to make things limpid in the end. There we go again. Take the word friable, for instance. All evidence leads us to suggest this word could be used to refer to raw potato chips. But in truth, something friable is that which could be easily crumbled. Well, it could be used to refer to potato chips, after all. This week's AWAD visits these red-herring words, words with meanings that are not the first things that come to mind. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Red-herring words #31701 06/11/2001 1:23 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 Red herring is a very old figure of speech. I remember reading that it was originally referred to an alleged scheme to confuse dogs on the trail of a criminal by dragging a red herring across the trail to divert the dogs.I never heard any explanation why the herring should be red. I found one URL giving some examples. http:// www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/red-herring.html Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Speaking of Red-herrings #31702 06/11/2001 1:43 PM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Here's Dr. Bill's link without the offending space: http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/red-herring.html Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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