as I was saying
Back on track
As I was saying signals a return to a previous topic after an interruption or digression.
The phrase acknowledges that the speaker got sidetracked and is now resuming their original point: As I was saying before the phone rang, we need to finalize the budget.
It can carry mild reproach toward whoever interrupted, or simply mark the transition back to the main thread of conversation.
- returningGoing back to origin
- continuingGoing on without stopping
- interruptionBreak in continuity
- tangentLine touching curve once
- digressionVeering off topic
back on track · meanwhile · conversation · thread · point · topic · resuming · where was I · speaking of · sidebar · detour · rambling · circling back · long story short · moreover · furthermore · narrative · monologue
- awkward momentsoops, cringe, embarrassment, yikes, awkward
- fillersfiller, gap filler, filler material, caulk, grout
- transitionstransition, blending, segue, fade, changeover
discourse continuity
as I was sayingchanging the subject
speaking of which · anyway · moving on · incidentally · by the way