ABSTRACT
A recurrent problem in argumentative discussion is that arguments get extended in ways that seem to lose the original point of contention, or they go off in directions that otherwise sidetrack the discussion. This can happen interac- tionally, in the back and forth of denials, objections, refutations, counters, rejoinders, and so on; or it can happen monologically, as a single arguer piles on elaboration and supplementation in a way that drifts from the point that he or she was ostensibly making in the first place. This is the stuff that squabbles, nitpicking, tirades, and ramblings are made of.
