neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Something or someone that is unclear or indefinite in purpose or nature

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

một thứ hoặc ai đó không rõ ràng về mục đích hoặc bản chất

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: neither a fish, flesh, nor a good red herring
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The new policy is neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring, leaving everyone confused

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring” mean?

Something or someone that is unclear or indefinite in purpose or nature Literally: neither a fish, flesh, nor a good red herring

Is “neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.