Defining Moments: Red Herring

Q: Why are attempts at misdirection called "Red Herrings?"

A: The term comes from the English sport of fox hunting.

Fox hounds, obviously, are kept on the trail of a fox by their sense of smell. To give the foxes more of a sporting chance, and to separate the truly great hunting dogs from the mediocre, it sometimes was the practice of fox hunters to drag a smoked red herring, a fish with an extremely strong (some would say malodorous) smell, across various trails near to where the hunting was to take place. The lesser dogs would be thrown off the trail of the fox by the strong smell of the red herring.

So intentional attempts at misdirection in literature, law, politics, philosophy, and daily life, have come to be known as "red herrings."

Defining Moments: Bachelor

Q: Why do we call the undergraduate degree a "Bachelor's Degree?"

A: The term "bachelor" originally referred to a soldier who was too young and inexperienced to lead other soldiers into war. So the term came to refer to someone who was not yet fit for leadership, or someone of inferior rank.

In contrast, a "Master" was someone who was at least fit to teach, while a "Doctor" was someone who had mastered a field of inquiry.

The "Bachelor's Degree" has nothing to do with gender, despite the fevered imaginations of many feminists.