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Glite Dictionary
to change tack

to change tack

1 5.1
To try a different way to deal with a problem
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : cambiar de enfoque
  • After realizing our initial strategy wasn't working, we decided to change tack and try a new approach.

Examples

  • Before the conversation can take a direction I don't care for, I change tack.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • It does seem like they have collectively failed to anticipate this reaction, and it's presumably not easy to change tack as quickly as you and I might wish.

    Blog text (11)

  • 'Smaller would be better,' he said, changing tack.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • OK, so let's change tack away from that.

  • So I'm going to change tack slightly now.

  • Only you know if your idea is worth sticking with or whether you need to change tack.

    Blog text (9)

  • Unless you change tack, I will ignore your further posts.

    Blog text (14)

  • Gracie saw she would find no sympathy and instantly changed tack.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • We gotta change tack.

    Gunless (2010)

  • Faced with only marginal gains at home, Putin changed tack.

    Academic text (2007)

Synonyms

to reverse course
vsto change tack
12 5.5

To change a decision or plan and go in a different direction

changes plan to improve outcomes rather than fully undo past steps
to shift gears
vsto change tack
10 3.9

To change what you are doing to fit a new situation

changes action to solve problems rather than merely adapting
to tack
vsto change tack
  • Literature
8 7.3

Change a plan or policy quickly to follow a different idea

alters approach to handle problems effectively without abrupt opposites
to take a different approach
vsto change tack
4 3.5

Use a new method to solve a problem

changes method to improve results rather than only after failure

Antonyms

to continue
586 1.0

To stay in the same job or role

to stick to the plan
21 3.0

Continue doing what everyone agreed without changing it

How Different

to retool
8 5.9
to change tack
  • UK
1 5.1
to tweak
81 3.8

Surface Forms

change tack infinitive
changed tack past
changed tack past participle
changing tack present participle
changes tack third person singular

Morphology

change + tack

The meaning 'to change one's approach' is directly and compositionally derived from 'change' (to alter) plus 'tack' (course/approach); if a learner knows the sense of 'tack' as a course or policy, the phrase is immediately interpretable. Although 'tack' is originally nautical, its extension to 'approach or policy' is a common, cross-linguistically familiar metaphor, so the expression is transparent to learners who know the constituents.

Etymology

Change tack comes from old sailors. On a boat a tack is the side the sail faces, so to change tack is to turn the boat to catch the wind from the other side. So today change tack means 'to change your approach' to a problem.