the.com/deflection
The art of answering a question with everyone's attention except its own.
means The act of turning aside a question, criticism, or blow so it lands somewhere other than its intended target.
from From Latin deflectere — 'de-' (away) plus 'flectere' (to bend). The same bending root gives us 'flex' and 'reflect.' Originally used for physical bending — light deflecting off water, a needle deflecting on a compass — before it bent itself into the social sense of dodging a question without technically refusing to answer it.
- origin
- from physics, meaning to bend from a straight path
- politics move
- answer a different question, confidently
- psychology term
- defense mechanism that blames the messenger
- tell
- often starts with the phrase what about