red herring

英 [ˌred ˈherɪŋ]

美 [ˌred ˈherɪŋ]

n.  转移注意力的次要事实(或想法、事件等)

牛津词典

noun

• 转移注意力的次要事实（或想法、事件等）
  an unimportant fact, idea, event, etc. that takes people's attention away from the important ones

柯林斯词典

• N-COUNT 遮眼法；转移注意力之物
  If you say that something is ared herring, you mean that it is not important and it takes your attention away from the main subject or problem you are considering.
  1. As Dr Smith left he said that the inquiry was something of a red herring.
     史密斯博士离开时说这次调查只是为掩人耳目。

英英释义

noun

• any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue
• a first draft of a prospectus
  1. because some portions of the cover page are printed in red ink a preliminary prospectus is sometimes called a red herring
  Synonym:preliminary prospectus
• a dried and smoked herring having a reddish color
  Synonym:smoked herring

双语例句

• For example Fowler condemned as "clich é s" many phrases I'd never heard: "a curate's egg"," neither fish, flesh nor good red herring", and so on.
  比如说福勒拿来批评“循词”的许多短语我听都没听说过：“一只牧师助理的鸡蛋”，“非鱼，非肉，也不是标致的红鲱鱼”，诸如此类。
• Four little nigger boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one, and then there were three.
  四个小黑人到海边去；一条红鲱鱼吞下一个，还剩三个。
• Even Britain's trade deficit with Europe is a red herring.
  即使英国与欧洲的贸易赤字是一条红鲱鱼。
• He said it was a "red herring" to try now and claim that this was some shocking new revelation.
  他说，现在试图把这些东西称作令人震惊的新发现，这是在转移人们的视线。
• This story is a red herring to divert public attention from this issue.
  这故事不过是用来转移公众的注意力的。
• This church has a Norman tower and a Gothic facade; it's neither fish flesh nor good red herring.
  这座教堂既有诺曼式的塔，又有哥特式的门面，不伦不类。
• What is missing is a realistic prospect that either will be able to tackle the problems that actually do sap US competitiveness ( as opposed to worrying about the exchange rate, which is a red herring).
  现在我们看不到他们两人中有哪一位能够解决那些真正削弱美国竞争力的问题（相对于对汇率问题的担忧，后者不过是用来转移注意力的话题）。
• This place is not a bungalow, or a cottage, or a house, it is neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring.
  这所住宅既不是农舍，更不是楼房，真是四不像。
• Some people have written RDF processing tools that manipulate the XML syntax directly using XQuery, but I consider this a bit of a red herring for general-purpose RDF processing.
  已经有人编写了直接使用XQuery操作XML语法的RDF处理工具，但我认为对于通用的RDF处理，这多少有点多此一举。
• The bilateral trade imbalance, the target of so many American politicians 'anger, is an economic red herring.
  众多美国政客的怒气所指&双边贸易不平衡是转移注意力的经济遁词。