Really, the conversation was straying from the coolly friendly path she had intended to tread.

As for me, I had let the conversation stray into very dangerous waters.

Erminie realized that the conversation had strayed considerably from what she had intended to ask.

"This conversation has strayed a bit," she said.

The conversations typically begin on topic, but constantly stray away from the topic at hand.

In order to keep conversations fresh, we generally close them after a couple of days, or whenever the conversation strays too wildly off topic.

Point of process means that the conversation has strayed from the original topic.

"What strange byways one's conversations can stray into, can't they?"

The further the conversation strayed from the subject he was determined to leave himself no chance to avoid, the harder it would be to broach.

Others are more open-ended, and the conversation might stray to what some participants call "pity sessions."