When some one is asked a question, sometimes if they are trying to avoid answering the question, they respond with something unrelated. What is the word for that response?
Eg. A: Why were you late? B: This bagel tastes good.
What I am looking for is the name of that response, not the action.
The response in that example could be called a non sequitur: 'a statement having little or no relevance to what preceded it'. This doesn't imply deliberate avoidance, however.
non sequitur assumes that there is a logical statement where a conclusion does not follow from the premise. A question, as in the OP, is not a logical statement of this form. This answer is somewhat ... irrelevant.
Commented
Jan 3, 2015 at 13:36
Evasion is a common word used to describe that activity. Other words are hedging, diversion...
an indirect answer; a prevaricating excuse; a trickery, cunning, or deception used to dodge a question, duty, etc; means of evading
The term for this is a non-answer. The practice of giving non-answers could be described as evasion, avoidance, dodging the question, etc. A non sequitur is a statement that doesn't follow logically from the statements/premises that came before it, but in my experience it's not used to describe non-answers.
To dodge a question is a useful expression:
- To evade (an obligation, for example) by cunning, trickery, or deceit: kept dodging the reporter’s questions.
(from AHD)
In the legal world, such an answer would be called non-responsive and is a well-known type of objection that can be raised against a witness' testimony.
The phrase changing the subject would fit.
Deliberately talk about another topic, as in If someone asks you an embarrassing question, just change the subject. This term uses subject in the sense of “a topic of conversation,” a usage dating from the late 1500s.
Non sequitur
Merriam-Webster says
a statement that is not connected in a logical or clear way to anything said before it
One option that's not been mentioned so far is deflection, used as in sense three of Merriam-Webster's entry for deflect: "to keep (something, such as a question) from affecting or being directed at a person or thing."
You can say the person is being evasive or is giving an evasive answer:
evasive - "tending or intended to evade"
e.g. She gave an evasive answer Merriam-Webster
To be evasive is to avoid something, whether it's a touchy subject or the person who's "it". If you're dodging the truth and not giving straight answers, then you're being evasive, which is probably not the best strategy when the police are asking the questions. From the French évasif, it’s an adjective that describes someone who's being intentionally shifty or vague. But a concept that’s hard to pin down or comprehend can also be considered evasive.
a fact, idea, or subject that takes people's attention away from the central point being considered:
To provide a non sequitur to the question, to stonewall, according to Merriam- Webster, is to,
refuse or fail to answer questions, to do what has been requested, etc., especially in order to delay or prevent something
That response is irrelevant.
ir·rel·e·vant
adjective
not connected with or relevant to something.
synonyms: beside the point, immaterial, not pertinent, not germane, off the subject, unconnected, unrelated, peripheral, extraneous, inapposite, inapplicable; ...
> format character to indicate the quoted material.
Inadequate comes to mind. It's used when the answer doesn't meet the required standard, or is irrelevant (see @Jimbo's answer).
"His reply was inadequate in answering my question"
I agree that the answer is a non sequitur for cases where the response is truly unrelated, and that this tactic may be employed as a dodge, as in the example. But you can also answer with a seeming non sequitur as a way of answering obliquely.
This description would fit the example if B was late because he stopped to buy the bagel, and could express B's valuation of gustatory pleasure over punctuality.
There's a great example of this in the movie LA Confidential, when Kevin Spacey lies to a struggling boxer about getting his brother's prison term commuted. After the boxer has shared his information, fulfilling his part of the deal, he asks, "I'll hear from you about my brother?"
By way of reply, Spacey pantomimes a boxer's defensive stance and says: "Keep it up, Lenny. Up."
When someone avoids answering the question posed and instead answers a subtly different but more favorable question, native speakers describe it with the euphemism staying on message. For example, consider the following excerpt from Six Lines to Help you Stay on Message in a Media Interview by Tim Ward.
For scientists and other experts building their skills at staying on message, here are six tag lines we find helpful for staying on message:
“I hear your concern about X, and while that’s important, the heart of our research is really Y. Here’s why Y matters most...”
“You’ve raised an interesting point about X. Another interesting point that’s closer to our research is Y...”
“I’m not familiar with the details of the issue you raised, as it outside the scope of our research. What I can tell you about Y is...
“Well, we can agree to disagree about X. I would like to return to the topic of my research and share something about Y that we’ve not yet touched on...”
“I can’t really speculate about X. Our research focuses on Y, and here’s what I can tell you...”
“While I am familiar with the issue of X, I’m here today to talk about the findings of our newest research on Y. Here’s what we think is most important...”
This is a common tactic for politicians in debates and interviews.
Distraction also fits the bill.
The question specifically states,
What I am looking for is the name of that response, not the action.
An answer that does not address the question is unhelpful or not helpful.
Possible terms might be tangential or circumstantial speech.
Tangential speech is a medical condition, possibly related to dementia, in which the sufferer doesn't reply directly to questions. However I have heard the term used in everyday speech to mean a response not directly related to the question.
the train of thought of the speaker wanders and shows a lack of focus, never returning to the initial topic of the conversation.
Likewise, circumstantial speech is also a psychiatric term, where the speaker may go off on a tangent but does eventually return to the primary topic.
In circumstantiality, apparently unnecessary details and seemingly irrelevant remarks cause a delay in getting to the point.
This may be caused by a cognitive disorder (ASD, confusion) or it may be intentionally evasive.
Equivocate - "Use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself" OED online. You equivocate in order to avoid answering a question, to deflect the question, often by responding with a non sequitur.
An
intentional fallacy
could be appropriate if they want to deceive in a special kind of way. A fallacy itself can be unintentional and does not really answer your question - where being
intentionally fallacious
could be construed as avoiding the question. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy
I don't think it fits perfectly, as one could simply be obtuse (a little like your example) or ridiculous or evasive - which are not quite examples of fallacy arguments.
https://www.thesaurus.com/e/synonym-of-the-day/circumvent-2023-10-23/
CIRCUMVENT IS ANOTHER WORD FOR SKIRT
Skirt means to go around the edge of something, avoid it, or keep your distance from it (I skirted the puddle because I didn’t want to get my shoes wet).
Circumvent means to go around something or bypass it, often in a figurative way (The press release circumvented the real issues).
Skirt and circumvent both mean to go around something, and both can be used when someone doesn’t give a straight answer or when someone doesn’t want to discuss a certain issue (I circumvented his question; I skirted the topic).
Skirt primarily suggests staying away from a certain issue, whereas circumvent suggests finding a way to not have to discuss it.
