tangents off

Verb

tangent off (third-person singular simple present tangents off, present participle tangenting off, simple past and past participle tangented off)

1. (informal, intransitive, uncommon) Synonym of fly off at a tangent (“to digress from a topic”).
   • Tangenting off... did not someone write an SF novel/story some years back about the social consequences when people were fitted with visible arousal indicators?1992 May 28, the Crisco Kid, “Suitably bi t-shirt...”, in soc.bi (Usenet)

   Synonyms:

   fly off at a tangent

2. (informal, transitive, uncommon) To digress from (a topic).
   • Tangenting off this, for a few years a local strip mall had a rather interesting pairing of stores next to each other.2003 September 17, Brent Keith, “Short forms that remind you of something else.”, in alt.callahans (Usenet)
3. (informal, rare, transitive) To digress from (a place).
   • After numerous laps at steadily freshening velocity, a sudden undertow developed on a 70 m.p.h. curve, the car went tangenting off the hard, plumb between two close-parked bulldozers, and finished up overhanging a 6-ft. drop, its front wheels firmly planted in mid-air.1948, The Motor, London: Temple Press, →OCLC, page 300, column 2