What's the difference between "by the way," "changing the subject" and "anyway"? ?

Question

What's the difference between "by the way," "changing the subject" and "anyway"? ?

Answer 1

by the way

is on the same subject,  adding to something.

changing the subject, is exactly that.

anyway is reverting back to an original topic.

Answer 2

Very interesting.  The answer is actually a little bit less obvious than it may seem.  All are segues, meaning they all change the subject.

The roots of these phrases are all different-- they didn't just pop into existence-- but I don't know what they are, so I won't go there.  Function-wise, "by the way" can change the subject to something related to what you were just talking about.  The other two change it to something unrelated.

However, the most interesting differences, for me, are the rhetorics of each.  "Changing the subject" stresses that the speaker is being candid and actually mentions the coming subject.  So... it can be a very strong way of doing things, sometimes too strong.  The other two are casual.  "Anyway" is somewhat dismissive of the previous subject, again putting weight on what the speaker is going to say next.  "By the way," on the other hand, can introduce the next subject based on its importance to the old one.

Answer 3

They're conversational expressions that all mean much the same thing: adding something or changing the topic.

Answer 4

In conversation:

" By the way" - They are changing the subject.

"Changing the subject"  - Next topic please.

"Anyway" - To h**l with what you are saying.

Answer 5

Different in spelling but same in meaning..