neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring

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neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring

Where it comes from

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.

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

idiomatic, not comparable 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”). The work of Ude is intended for the higher ranks, and for people of fortune. We conceive the book and the cook to have been overrated. It is neither French nor English — neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring. For the rest, Lord Sefton, who was too much of a mere glutton, would have perverted the
Similar: neither fish nor fowl

Translations

Every language

adj not easily categorized; not rightly belonging or fitting well in a given group or situation; not having the advantages of the various options — see also neither

Español	ni carne ni pescado, ni chicha ni limonada, sin pies ni cabeza
中文	男不男女不女 nán bù nán nǚ bù nǚ
Français	ni chair ni poisson
Deutsch	weder Fisch noch Fleisch
Italiano	né carne né pesce
Русский	ни ры́ба ни мя́со ni rýba ni mjáso, ни то́ ни сё ni tó ni sjo, ни два́ ни полтора́ ni dvá ni poltorá, ни в пизду́, ни в Кра́сную А́рмию ni v pizdú, ni v Krásnuju Ármiju

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MLA

"neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/neither%20fish%2C%20flesh%2C%20nor%20good%20red%20herring. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/neither%20fish%2C%20flesh%2C%20nor%20good%20red%20herring

Chicago

"neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/neither%20fish%2C%20flesh%2C%20nor%20good%20red%20herring.

BibTeX

@misc{neither_fish_flesh_nor_good_red_herring_2026,
  title = {neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/neither%20fish%2C%20flesh%2C%20nor%20good%20red%20herring},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}