non sequitur
Remark from nowhere
A non sequitur is a statement or conclusion that does not logically follow from what preceded it.
In conversation, someone commits a non sequitur when they abruptly change subjects or offer a response that has no clear connection to what was just said: We were discussing the budget when he suddenly mentioned his cat—a complete non sequitur.
In logic and rhetoric, the term describes a formal fallacy where the conclusion isn't supported by the premises.
Error in reasoning
- incongruityLack of harmony
- disconnectionState of being severed
- incoherenceFailure to make sense
- irrelevanceLack of pertinence
contradiction · inconsistency · non-sequitur · leap · gap
Humor's final delivery
- absurdistBeliever in cosmic meaninglessness
- deadpanExpressionless, especially for humor
- witClever, inventive humor
- anti-jokeDeliberately punchless humor
randomness · absurdity · bizarre · left-field · pratfall · bathos · incongruity · whimsy
Change in trajectory
- misdirectionIntentional focus manipulation
- evasionAct of escaping detection
- distractionThing diverting one's attention
- tangentLine touching curve once
digression · sidetrack · dodge · avoidance · pivot · redirect · obfuscation · smokescreen
Not anticipated beforehand
- jarringDisturbingly incongruous
- bewilderingCausing utter confusion
- disorientingCausing loss of direction
- abruptSharp and unexpected
startling · baffling · puzzling · confounding · left-field · curveball · blindside · disconcerting
fallacy
Error in reasoning
- incongruityLack of harmony
- disconnectionState of being severed
- incoherenceFailure to make sense
irrelevance · contradiction · inconsistency · non-sequitur · leap · gap
punchline
Humor's final delivery
- absurdistBeliever in cosmic meaninglessness
- deadpanExpressionless, especially for humor
- witClever, inventive humor
anti-joke · randomness · absurdity · bizarre · left-field · pratfall · bathos · incongruity · whimsy
deflection
Change in trajectory
- misdirectionIntentional focus manipulation
- evasionAct of escaping detection
- distractionThing diverting one's attention
tangent · digression · sidetrack · dodge · avoidance · pivot · redirect · obfuscation · smokescreen · derailment
unexpected
Not anticipated beforehand
- jarringDisturbingly incongruous
- bewilderingCausing utter confusion
- disorientingCausing loss of direction
abrupt · startling · baffling · puzzling · confounding · left-field · curveball · blindside · disconcerting · whiplash
- humorjoke, jokes, joking, comedy, comic
- comedy elementspunchline, wit, gag, satire, irony
- comedy tropespratfall, parody, sight gag, running gag, satire
- jokesjokes, joke, puns, one-liners, pun
- distractionsdistraction, digression, tangent, sidetrack, diversion
- Absurd Humorsurreal humor, random humor, dream logic, incongruity, dadaism
non sequiturlogical conclusion
logical consequence · corollary · syllogism · Q.E.D. · valid argument
sequence, consequence, consequently, subsequent, sequential, consequent, inconsequential, subsequence