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Herring

An open list of 77 words by ruzuzu.

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  • hernesheir added buckling. Feb 11, 2013

  • kalayzich 1891 N. Gould Double Event 117 (Farmer) People jammed inside like herrings in a barrel.
    Oct 18, 2012

  • deinonychus Or maybe a LED herring (glowing stonger than the dead herring)? Sep 27, 2012

  • fbharjo and then there's dread herring..... a clue too smelly to follow!.... that my two scents (shiny pennies-coppertop) worth? Sep 27, 2012

  • deinonychus In this blog post about bioluminescence, they quote The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald:

    "An idiosyncrasy peculiar to the herring is that, when dead, it begins to glow; this property, which resembles phosphorescence and is yet altogether different, peaks a few days after death and then ebbs away as the fish decays. For a long time no one could account for this glowing of the lifeless herring, and indeed I believe that it still remains unexplained. Around 1870, when projects for the total illumination of our cities were everywhere afoot, two English scientists with the apt names of Herrington and Lightbown investigated the unusual phenomenon in the hope that the luminous substance exuded by dead herrings would lead to a formula for an organic source of light that had the capacity to regenerate itself. The failure of this eccentric undertaking, as I read some time ago in a history of artificial light, constituted no more than a negligible setback in the relentless conquest of darkness."

    I have a feeling that the dead herring is somehow related to the (more famous) red herring. Sep 26, 2012

  • ruzuzu Well, I think Vanderpink did make me a job offer--I'd bet a red herring list could be a good addition to my c.v. (not that I'd ever take her up on that offer).
    *cough, cough*
    *begins to wonder whether Vanderpink offers decent health insurance* Apr 26, 2011

  • PossibleUnderscore Hey! Did Vanderpink's secrecy rub off on you?

    Edit: Not that I'm blaming you of course, with the backdrop of 'Identify the Wordienik'. Apr 26, 2011

  • ruzuzu Maybe that's what you're meant to think. Apr 26, 2011

  • Prolagus I thought this was a list of words whose definition contains the word "herring". Apr 26, 2011

  • reesetee Heehee! Saw that setup coming, but I still didn't figure it out. :-) Apr 26, 2011

  • ruzuzu *snort* Apr 26, 2011

  • bilby Oh, sorry. I'm just a bit hard of herring.

    *chortlechortlechortlethighslap* Apr 26, 2011

  • ruzuzu Thank you, Possible. Do we really live in a world where making a list about herring causes the lister's motives to be questioned? Bilby, why do you hate freedom? Apr 26, 2011

  • PossibleUnderscore Spontaneity of life.

    How about
    http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/dreams.png">?
    It pretty much sums up what I see in this list. No red-herrings about that. Sorry about the language though.
    ; ) Apr 26, 2011

  • bilby WHAT'S THIS LIST ABOUT? Apr 26, 2011

  • ruzuzu I dunno... I just woke up this morning and thought, "Herring. Yes. Today's the day I'll make a list about herring." Apr 26, 2011

  • bilby What's this list about? Apr 25, 2011