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Glite Dictionary
to fly off at a tangent

to fly off at a tangent

1 8.9
To suddenly start talking about a different subject
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
: divagar
  • He tends to fly off at a tangent when we talk about politics, shifting to unrelated topics every time.

Examples

  • During the meeting, she began to fly off at a tangent about her vacation plans instead of discussing the project.

  • Whenever I try to focus on the task, my mind often flies off at a tangent to random ideas.

  • So what's happening is because you're getting spun, you have an urge to fly off at a tangent of that circle.

  • So what's happening is because you're getting spun, you have an urge to fly off at a tangent of that circle.

Synonyms

to stray
vsto fly off at a tangent
19 4.0

To move away from the main topic when speaking or writing

is a sudden jump to a completely different subject rather than a slow drift
to go off on tangents
vsto fly off at a tangent
  • Informal
5 7.0

To start talking about things not related to the main subject

is about sudden shifts to topics that are completely unrelated

Antonyms

focus
∞ 3.5

Close attention to one subject or activity

How Tangential

to fly off at a tangent
  • Informal
1 8.9
to go off on tangents
  • Informal
5 7.0
to ramble
  • Informal
51 5.3
to digress
21 6.8

Surface Forms

fly off at a tangent infinitive
flying off at a tangent present participle
flies off at a tangent third person singular
flew off at a tangent past
flown off at a tangent past participle

Morphology

fly + off + at + a + tangent

The phrase maps a spatial image onto discourse: 'fly off' (to move away quickly) plus 'tangent' (a departure from the main subject) yields the predictable meaning of suddenly departing from the topic. This compositional spatial→topical metaphor is transparent to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words (especially 'tangent' in the sense of a digression).

Etymology

The idiom fly off at a tangent makes you imagine something that flies off a curved path and suddenly goes another way, with tangent showing it leaves the main line. That's why it means 'to suddenly start talking about a different subject'.