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From wikipedia: The idiom "red herring" is used to refer to something that misleads or distracts from the relevant or important issue.

Is there literal translation or similar idiom?

Ivan Solntsev
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  • Are you referring to this idiom meaning in financial world? Like here: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/redherring.asp? If yes, then I think there are no exact Russian equivalent. – HEKTO Apr 18 '14 at 18:50
  • I think, it's:
    уловка <= adj.
    сбить с толку <= action     – igoryonya Apr 30 '17 at 21:38

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I don't think there a phrase in Russian with the exact same meaning as red herring. Depending on the context, you could use:

Отвлечение внимания
Отвлекающий аргумент
Отвлекающий манёвр
Ложная улика
Ложный манёвр

There is term копчёная сельдь, however I've never actually heard it in speech.

Aleks G
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    "Отвлекающий маневр" it's most commonly used phrase in this context... – Sergey Apr 16 '14 at 14:57
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    @Sergey As I mentioned, it really depends on the context. Отвлекающий маневр refers to something that was done/presented on purpose. When it's more accidental, then ложная улика would be a better option. For example, you are trying to find out why your car doesn't start and you see a disconnected wire in the engine compartment. You start thinking that it's the reason - and are trying to figure out where it's supposed to go and why it's disconnected - and so on. Eventually, turns out that the car is not starting because it doesn't have petrol. The disconnected wire is the red herring. – Aleks G Apr 16 '14 at 15:07
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    How about "(навести на) ложный след"? It seems somewhat related to the English idiom's alleged origins. – mustaccio Apr 16 '14 at 16:49
  • @AlexG Sorry but I think in russian society any thing related to crime/investigation like "улика" are very limited in context. Since I'm [bela]russian I will use "неверная предпосылка" rather then your "ложная улика"in this engine related example. – Sergey Apr 16 '14 at 21:39
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    I agree with "ложный след" (false trail) being a very good option here. – Oleg Apr 17 '14 at 12:39