neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring

English - English

Definition of neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring in English English dictionary

Unsuitable for anyone or anything; unfit for any purpose

Hyphenation

nei·ther fish, flesh, nor good Red her·ring

Etymology

() The three foods are metonyms for those things suitable to each of a Mediæval 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.