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cavort

leivev

Senior Member
美之大成， 汉语
l. In it, Obama found that the erstwhile bible of rock-'n'-roll attitude had chronicled his Afghanistan commander, General Stanley McChrystal, openly mocking the Administration in conversations with aides, cavorting in a Paris pub and generally acting less like a general than like a jock.



Hi :

Is the word "cavort" used felicitous here? I mean in my point of view, cavort, in which contains a whiff of female sexual sense.


And if it is proper, it is saying the word has similar feeling with frolic.

Can you convey me some native first-impression about these several words?
romp, cavort, gambol, frolic?


Thanks beforehand
Is the word "cavort" used felicitous here? I mean in my point of view, cavort, in which contains a whiff of female sexual sense.

I think cavort is used here in the sense "leap about in a noisy and excited way: The children cavort in the sand." Cavort does have another meaning, which is "to behave in a playfully sexual way: It was claimed that she cavorted with a sergeant in a Jacuzzi, but she denies this." Since the text mentions a pub, I find it less likely that cavort has the latter signification.

Reference: Collins dictionary, 2007.
Of the four words romp, cavort, gambol, and frolic, I have seen/heard all used with sexual connotation, probably cavort more than the others, maybe romp second in such usage.

However I seen each word used more often with non-sexual connotation.

It seems to me that I see gambol and frolic used together more than romp or cavort in any pairing. That is to say (no web-acronym available for that phrase) one may often gambol and frolic, however redundant such phrase may seem, while one almost never romps and frolics or cavorts and gambols.
Of the four words romp, cavort, gambol, and frolic, I have seen/heard all used with sexual connotation, probably cavort more than the others, maybe romp second in such usage.
I agree - these words don't have to have a sexual overtone, but often do. The context has to tell you what might be meant. At the very least the impression they give me is one of frivolousness.
Really? You've obviously never been to a pub in England on a Friday or Saturday night.
For sure I haven't been to a pub in the city of Paris in the country of England in the capacity of an American general!
Cavorting normally indicates that there must be women somewhere. Being that McChrystal and his aides were in a Parisian Irish pub, we can probably say they were intoxicated too.

All in all, a normal night down the local.
All in all, a normal night down the local.


Thanks, Pedro y La Torre, by the way, what the meaning of "down the local"?
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