abstract:In comedy, a throwaway line (also: throwaway joke or throwaway gag) is a joke delivered "in passing" without being the punch line to a comedy routine, part of the [up] to another joke, or (in the context of drama) there to advance a story or develop a character. Throwaway lines are often one-liners, or in-jokes, and often delivered in a deadpan manner.
So was his playing down of the Taliban threat a foolish throwawayline, which reflected the brigadier's personal view rather than the consensus among the British military?
It was not much more than a throwawayline in the midst of the expansive government-led agenda which President Obama laid out in his fourth State of the Union address.