neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj

Synonym of neither fish nor fowl (“not easily categorized; not rightly belonging or fitting well in a given group or situation; also, not having the advantages of the various options”).

Pronunciation

en-au-neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring.ogg

Word forms

neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring neither fish, flesh, nor fowl neither fish nor flesh neither fish nor flesh, nor good red herring

Etymology

The three foods are metonyms for those things suitable to each of medieval society’s classes of people; fish represents the clergy, flesh represents commoners, whilst red herring represents paupers; the three classes are simplistically regarded as exhaustive.

Synonyms

neither fish nor fowl

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