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Glite Dictionary
to fly off at a tangent

to fly off at a tangent

8.9
To suddenly start talking about a different subject
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : 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
26 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
1 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
794 3.5

Close attention to one subject or activity

How Tangential

to fly off at a tangent
  • Informal
8.9
to go off on tangents
  • Informal
1 7.0
to ramble
  • Informal
48 5.3
to digress
22 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'.