neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring
neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring
obsolete Not belonging to any suitable class of thing; unfit for any purpose or to be used by anyone. This older phrase appeared in a 16th-century proverb collection, where fish refers to food for monks (who abstained from meat), flesh refers to food for the general populace, and "good red herring" refers to inexpensive fish that would have been food for the poor. With crime as it is in this township, the law must be aggressive and dependable; unfortunately, the new constable is neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring.
See also: good, herring, neither, nor, red
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
- casu consulto
- teach a man to fish
- it takes a village
- village
- a woman's work is never done
- tomorrow never comes
- best-laid plans go astray, the
- the best-laid plans
- the best-laid plans go astray
- the best-laid plans of mice and men