What is the red herring fallacy?

Diverting attention to an irrelevant topic to dodge the actual issue — changing the subject is not an argument.

The pattern: Topic A is under discussion; topic B (irrelevant but superficially related) is introduced; A gets abandoned. It fails because swapping the subject doesn't address the original claim — it just escapes it.

A: "Did you finish the report you promised by Friday?" B: "Well, you know how stressful this whole quarter has been for the entire team."

The team's stress level, true or not, doesn't answer whether the report was finished — it's a distraction steering the conversation elsewhere. The name comes from the idea of dragging a strong-smelling fish across a trail to throw hounds off the scent.

Tip: Red herring vs straw man: a straw man misrepresents your argument and attacks the fake; a red herring abandons your argument for a different topic entirely.