Provoking can consist of seeking a violent reaction in another individual.
Provoke is a verb that comes from the Latin word provocare . It is the action that consists of encouraging or promoting something in someone .
For example: “I'm not willing to make my parents angry again: I'd better go to school right now,” “If you touch that liquid with your hand, the substance will cause burns on your skin,” “I'm sorry, no.” "It was my intention to provoke anyone with my words."
Different meanings of provoking
There are different specific meanings of the term according to the context . Provoking can consist of generating a sentimental reaction or an emotion : “Your behavior makes me laugh,” “Seeing those children without shoes caused immense sadness to the travelers.”
Provoking can also refer to the attempt to make someone angry or indignant : “When the home team was winning by four to zero, the captain began to provoke the rivals,” “I didn't want to fight, but he provoked me.”
In some cases, as in the last example, you can omit the sensation or reaction caused by a certain event, and use the verb provoke on its own. In any case, it is worth mentioning that for this meaning the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) does not recognize it as intransitive, which is why we must always understand that it is talking about causing "anger" or "anger" , for example.
The action of provoking may consist of sexually arousing.
sexually arouse
Provocation, on the other hand, can refer to what is done to sexually excite another person, and in this case the verb is intransitive: “The girl began to play with the ice in her mouth to provoke her partner,” “He took off his clothes slowly, with the intention of provoking her…”
The act of sexually provoking another person can occur in the intimate sphere of a couple, where it is absolutely natural and acceptable, but also in contexts that are inappropriate or offensive, such as in an office or on the street, targeting someone who has not expressed similar feelings or has directly expressed the opposite, when it is not a complete stranger.
Unlike what machismo promotes, provocation and sexual harassment do not only occur in the stereotypical picture of the boss and his employee , but include all possible combinations of sexes and sexual orientations. In the same way, the damages are comparable in all cases: it is not true that a young woman who is provoked by her elderly employer suffers more than an intern harassed by her boss, for example.
More meanings of provoke
The concept of provoking can even be used in a broad or general way to name what happens when a phenomenon produces a certain effect : “The government announcement caused the oil company's shares to collapse,” “The truck driver, when braking unexpectedly, caused a pile-up” , “If you remove that screw, you will cause the shelf to fall” .
As can be seen throughout the previous paragraphs, the verb provoke can describe a very different series of actions and situations, always focusing on the consequences, although these have not necessarily been intentionally sought by the subject. If we return to the example of the corrosive liquid, it goes without saying that it is not a subject with its own will , which is why it provokes a reaction without the ability to desire it or, for that matter, to be aware of it.
Although the contrast seems unnecessary, a person who annoys another person with the intention of getting him out of control represents the other extreme of possibilities offered by the verb provoke. In the middle are situations such as the sadness or helplessness aroused by the lives of street children or the laughter that cannot be avoided after the comments and gestures of a naturally funny person.