Non Sequitur in Everyday Speech
See also: Derailment (thought disorder)In everyday speech, a non sequitur is a statement in which the final part is totally unrelated to the first part, for example:
Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die. —West with the Night, Beryl MarkhamIt can also refer to a response that is totally unrelated to the original statement or question:
Mary: I wonder how Mrs. Knowles next door is doing.Jim: Did you hear that the convenience store two blocks over got robbed last night? Thieves got away with a small fortune.
Read more about this topic: Non Sequitur (logic)
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