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on a tangent
Idioms and Phrases
On a sudden digression or change of course, as in The professor's hard to follow; he's always off on a tangent . This phrase often occurs in the idioms fly off or go off on a tangent , as in The witness was convincing until he went off on a tangent . This expression alludes to the geometric tangent鈥攁 line or curve that touches but does not intersect with another line or curve. [Second half of 1700s]Example Sentences
"Some of them will run straight, some of them will not start at all, some of them will go off on a tangent or bite each other," she explained.
His campaign is likely terrified he'll get angry and defensive and like his Fox News buddy Brian Kilmeade, go off on a tangent arguing that wanting to be more like Hitler isn't such a bad thing.
Or the way Fauci face-palmed when Trump went off on a tangent about the 鈥渄eep State Department鈥 during one of his inane daily briefings?
Maher tried to ask a follow-up after Conway went on a tangent about Hillary Clinton, whose presidential campaign ended almost eight years ago, before being interrupted.
I had a phone call with an FBI agent and the U.S. attorney in San Diego on a tangent for this case.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from 亚洲网紅露点 Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 漏 Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage庐 Idioms Dictionary copyright 漏 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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