Today my thoughts took off on a tangent and kept me thinking about many things at once. Many a tangent to be precise. So, to bring back focus I thought it prudent to understand tangent – literally.

  Use of Tangent in speech and what does it convey

In Literary terms tangent means

“a subject or activity that is different from the one you are talking about or doing:”

So, when one digresses from the subject and keeps moving away one is taking the conversation”off-tangent”

Geometrically speaking the tangent just touches the curved surface on just one point and does not touch or extend to intersect the curved surface again.

Sometimes the topic under discussion has many tangents (distractions or perspectives)

And at times the subject alignment of the speaker is off-tangent.

If you are wondering what’s happening in a meeting and are struck by the various discordant notes that make no meaning nor sound coherent then the meeting is “off-tangent” for sure.

In life, it is important to know the possible tangents that can steer you off course or lead you in a directionless or dimensionless frame.

Stay on course