I am looking for a verb.

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Anonymous

#309932 Wed, 03 Jan 07 09:16 AM

Hello, everybody.
I am looking for a verb which works in the following sentence.

'He tried to VERB the conversation away from the issue of football, because the topic reminded him of his failure in a football match and made him feel guilty.'

What verb should be used in the VERB?
Please help me.

Anonymous

Verbs, Conversations, Football

Mister Micawber

#309942 Wed, 03 Jan 07 10:14 AM

Lead

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (22,636)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Verbs

Marius Hancu

#309951 Wed, 03 Jan 07 10:25 AM

Also, perhaps:

He tried to deflect the conversation away from the issue of football
He tried to deviate/digress/diverge/(step aside) from the issue of football

Marius Hancu

Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006

Montreal, Canada

Veteran Member (11,673)

Verbs, Conversations, Football

Grammar Geek

#310092 Wed, 03 Jan 07 06:20 PM

Or steer.

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (16,089)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

Verbs

Anonymous

#310194 Thu, 04 Jan 07 01:58 AM

Thank you everyone for your ideas.

How about 'turn'?
'He tried to turn the conversation away from the issue of football.'
Is this OK?

Anonymous

Verbs, Conversations, Football

Selecter

#310215 Thu, 04 Jan 07 02:27 AM

Turn away has several meanings. It depends on a context.
Turn away is OK if it's used in a context where you can replace this verb with a synomyn avert

Selecter

Joined on Fri, Jan 20 2006

Slavic Russia

Full Member (297)

Please correct my mistakes if there are any.

Verbs