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British idiom for one who has been totally bamboozled or taken advantage of by another.
Friend A: You just bought a gold watch from the street vendor for 100 quid?
Friend B: Yeah, mate, nice watch, isn't it?
Friend A: Eh, boy, you've been done up like a kipper!
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Done up/stiched up like a kipper, surely takes it's meaning from the term red herring, which means to mislead or distract from an important issue, in a trickster style.
A Red Herring, in the literal sense, is a particularly strong smelling fish called a Kipper that has turned a red colour following the smoking process traditionally used to preserve it.
Therefore, to be done or stiched up like a kipper, clearly means to be duped or tricked by false information that was there for all to see, (in hindsight).
For example: when someone purchases an item they believe to be far superior to what it turns out to be, based on the persuasion and false information by the seller.
He was done up like a kipper when he bought that car. Meaning the car was a pile of s*** and he was tricked when he payed top dollar for it.
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Blimey yes these drugs are working.
"He doesn't even remember being there..."
"Yeah, he was done up like a kipper"
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