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neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring

Unsuitable for anyone or anything; unfit for any purpose.

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.
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Submitted on July 07, 2010

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ни рыба, ни мясо, ни хорошая красная сельдь

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring

neither here nor thereneither here nor thereneither fish nor fleshno-good assnod's as good as a wink to a blind baton good terms withmake good onno good deed ever goes unpunishedneither fish nor fowllet the door hit you where the good Lor…neither heaven nor helllady in redneither a borrower nor a lender beneither fish, flesh, nor fowl

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    "neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/neither-fish,-flesh,-nor-good-red-herring_13798>.

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