sequitur

non sequitur

A statement that does not logically fit into the current conversation. Good luck getting answers from him—his every response to my questions so far has been a non sequitur. A: "I changed the oil in the car." B: "Well, that's a complete non sequitur, since I asked if you were hungry!"
See also: non, sequitur
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a ˌnon ˈsequitur

(from Latin, formal) a statement that does not seem to follow what has just been said in any natural or logical way: In the middle of a discussion about the weather, Liz started talking about fish. Everyone ignored the non sequitur completely.
The Latin phrase means ‘it does not follow’.
See also: non, sequitur
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • a non sequitur
  • non sequitur
  • Good luck!
  • good luck
  • good luck with (something)
  • as chance/luck would have it
  • as luck would have it
  • the luck of the devil
  • luck of the devil
  • have the devil's (own) luck
References in periodicals archive
voice there is no such thing as non sequitur when you are in
AT&T said that it has assembled a team of leading security technology providers to deliver secure mobile devices under this award, including Green Hills Software, SafeNet and Sequitur Labs.
As Wurzelbacher expended shotgun shells at an outdoor shooting range, a voice-over offered a chilling warning from history: "In 1939 Germany established gun control [sic]; from 1939 to 1945 six million Jews, seven million others, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated." He ended with the impassioned non sequitur: "I love America." In the ensuing media storm, Wurzelbacher took to Twitter to erroneously claim that his vindication could be found in Mein Kampf, where "Hitler wrote that his agenda would not be possible unless the people were disarmed."
So, the suggestion for a debate is non sequitur ( a statement that does not logically follow the previous statement) and a non- starter," party spokesperson Manish Tewari said.
William Ferguson, tenor; Sequitur: Tara Helen O'Connor, flute; Jo-Ann Sternberg, clarinet; Matthew Gold, percussion; Sara Laimon, piano; Miranda Cuckson, Sarah Crocker, violin; Daniel Panner, viola; Greg Hesselink, cello; Pawel Knapik, contrabass; Paul Hostetter, conductor.
The Glaswegian often seems to unsettle post-match interviewers with a carefully timed non sequitur and the subject of Carroll tends to bring out his most abrasive side.
Some of the best for 2012: The Non Sequitur 2012 Calendar, offering a focus on daily life's ironies and oddities.
1): There appears to be a non sequitur in the examples given.
There is no single consciousness bringing the work together, which may be part of the point: the second sentence of the book reads, "I am so many different sorts of people it makes me want to stick my fingers in your mouth." The surreal, absurd non sequitur here is a consistent feature of a book that is, ultimately, a mystifying miscellany.
"That's why I made the decision that I would personally try that case and ask for the strongest penalties available under our law--and that's the leadership you will see from reel' she said, adding as something of a non sequitur: "I'm going to roll up my sleeves, and I will read the bills."
A Pentagon directive, leaked to the Washington Post, urged officials to avoid using the infamous Bushian non sequitur. In the Obama administration, it said, the appropriate euphemism is "Overseas Contingency Operation."
Finished by Gottschalk (an associate with CMS Hasche Sigle in Hamburg, Germany specializing on corporate law) after von Mehren's demise, the text discusses foundational reasons for the existence of adjudicatory authority and its principal types; the design of jurisdictional provisions; the emergence of jurisdictional theory in the United States and Germany; the actor sequitur forum rei principle; consequences of splitting causes of action, participating as a litigant, and choice of forum agreements for consent and adjudicatory authority; forum non conveniens, antisuit injunctions, and lis pendens; and the role of international instruments in convergence and compromise in private international law.
Upon arrival, visitors pay admission to an attendant who blurts out a newspaper headline--a non sequitur designed by artist Tino Sehgal.
Here is the non sequitur that leaps off the page: "Iran's Hezbollah terrorist proxies have turned Lebanon into an inferno."
''Obviously, we misjudged how different people would react to Wiley Miller's Non Sequitur syndicated cartoon published by the New Straits Times last Monday,'' the newspaper said.