English for Dummies: RANT

The press once again, presumably in an attempt to ‘sensationalise’ their articles, have been over indulging in phrases that do not accurately describe their stories. Recent point in quote is the Guardians article entitled “Kenny Dalglish begins his second coming at Liverpool with a rant”

‘Rant’, as previous boss Rafael Benitez knows all too well, is a word that has been over-used in describing Liverpool manager’s press conferences. Incredibly, even with my failed ‘O’ level, I knew better then the journalists (with their fancy degrees), on the correct usage of the word. So, wanting to help in any way possible, I decided to post a series of ‘Quick Help’ guides, to journalists who are unable to discern the ‘truth’ from ‘sensationalism’. A sort of 'English for Dummies' if you will.

Step 1 in this series is:

RANT
v. rant·ed, rant·ing, rants
v.intr.
To speak or write in an angry or violent manner; rave.
v.tr.
To utter or express with violence or extravagance: a dictator who ranted his vitriol onto a captive audience.
n.
1. Violent or extravagant speech or writing.
2. A speech or piece of writing that incites anger or violence:
3. A criticism done by ranting; A wild, incoherent, emotional articulation; To speak or shout at length in an uncontrollable anger; To criticize by ranting.
4. A rant is a speech or text that does not present a well-researched and calm argument; rather, it is typically an attack on an idea, a person or an institution. Very often rants lack proven claims. Such attacks are usually personal attacks.


With this in mind, you can view Kenny Dalglish's recent aforementioned 'rant' here