betulina
Senior Member
català - Catalunya
Hi, everyone,
I find everywhere that "to rouse" means "to awaken", "to become active", "to provoke". Now, in the context I found it, I can't quite understand it:
"He relished the opportunity to attack the Italians with his typewriter. He showed a real flair for what came to be called ‘psychological warfare’. Some of his inventions aimed at rousing the Ethiopian factions were beyond what the Emperor could approve, so he forged an imperial seal with which to issue his bulletins."
It's about the war between Italy and Abyssinia in the 30s. The "he" of the story is an English journalist partisan of the Ethiopians.
To me, if "to rouse" has the sense of "to provoke the Ethiopian factions", shouldn't the following verb be "to go" ...? I don't understand "to rouse somebody be somewhere". I bet it doesn't mean this, though.
I also thought about the possibility of it meaning "to pretend", but no dictionary gives this meaning.
What do you understand?
Thanks for any help!
I find everywhere that "to rouse" means "to awaken", "to become active", "to provoke". Now, in the context I found it, I can't quite understand it:
"He relished the opportunity to attack the Italians with his typewriter. He showed a real flair for what came to be called ‘psychological warfare’. Some of his inventions aimed at rousing the Ethiopian factions were beyond what the Emperor could approve, so he forged an imperial seal with which to issue his bulletins."
It's about the war between Italy and Abyssinia in the 30s. The "he" of the story is an English journalist partisan of the Ethiopians.
To me, if "to rouse" has the sense of "to provoke the Ethiopian factions", shouldn't the following verb be "to go" ...? I don't understand "to rouse somebody be somewhere". I bet it doesn't mean this, though.
I also thought about the possibility of it meaning "to pretend", but no dictionary gives this meaning.
What do you understand?
Thanks for any help!