Meander” – synonoymous with drift, gallivant, traipse, roam, stray and others.

As I was growing up these words seemed to be a used a lot by my parents. But they never said meander, dad said we were out gallivanting which was probably true as my sister and I always seemed to be in trouble with the parents for going someplace we weren’t supposed to go.

Mom said traipse a lot. “Don’t go traipsing off it’s almost dinner time.” or “Don’t traipse in here with those muddy shoes.”

Gallivant and traipse seem to hold a much stronger meaning for me than meander.
If dad had said we were out meandering, would we not do it again. Or if Mom had said don’t mender in with those muddy shoes, would we forget next time and do it again?

I think I might meander through the woods while traipsing down a muddy trail but never go galivanting off to explore an old mine shaft.

But maybe that is just guilt by association and why we were always in trouble.