1682. Dryden, Duke of Guise, Epil. (6th line from end). Neuters in their middleway of fleering, Are neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring.
To throw a sprat to catch a herring (or whale), verb. phr. (old).—To forego an advantage in the hope of greater profit.
1826. Buckstone, Luke the Labourer, i., 2. I give dat like throwing away a sprat to catch a herring, though I hope on this occasion to catch a bigger fish.
1890. Grant Allen, Tents of Shem, ch. xix. He’s casting a sprat to catch a whale.
Dead as a herring (or shotten herring), adv. phr. (old).—Quite dead. [Herrings die sooner on leaving the water than most fish.] See Dead.
1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, ii., 3. By gar de herring is no dead as I vill kill him.
1785. Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook. I’ll nail the self-conceited sot As dead’s a herrin’.
1790. Rhodes, Bombastes Furioso, Sc. 4. Ay, dead as herrings—herrings that are red.
Like herrings in a barrel, adv. phr. (common).—Very crowded.
1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 117. People jammed inside like herrings in a barrel.