Herring : noun A herringbone was formerly a retail seller of herring and other fish.
Rude, garish, ill-mouthed woman.
Any woman of the people, "a bit too loud-mouthed".
Formerly, a term used in the slang of the bourgeoises, who remember the salty jokes with which the ladies of the Halles de Paris once overwhelmed them. The herringers were muzzled by police order.