07 - Digress

lynn_go

digress v.离题；走向岔道 （当今用法主要用于跑题而不是走岔路） digression n.离题；脱轨

王二狗Mark

The corresponding noun is digression (di-GRESH-un or dy-GRESH-un): “The old man's story was full of humorous digressions.”

王二狗Mark

Digress once was used of a physical wandering or turning aside, but that sense is now archaic (ahr-KAY-ik), which means old-fashioned. Today we do not say, “She turned right and digressed down Main Street.” Instead, digress is used of speaking or writing that departs from the main point or subject at hand and wanders off in another direction: “In a business report or an oral presentation, it's important to stick to the facts and not digress”; “If she hadn't digressed so much, her lecture would have been more interesting.”

王二狗Mark

To wander, stray from the point, ramble, deviate, go off in another direction. Digress comes from the Latin digressus, which comes in turn from the prefix dis-, apart, and gradi, to go, walk, step. Digress means literally to go apart, walk away. From the same Latin source come ingress (IN-gres), the place you walk in, the entrance; and egress (EE-gres), the place you walk out, the exit.