Rant and rave
Meaning
To express extreme anger or frustration in a loud, uncontrolled, and often incoherent way.
Origin
Imagine the fervor of a 17th-century preacher, or perhaps a drunken sailor, holding forth in a smoky tavern. The word "rant" burst into English from Dutch ranten, originally meaning to talk wildly or make a bombastic, often empty, speech. It soon became synonymous with theatrical, unrestrained vocalization, frequently associated with the wild, impassioned sermons of the Dissenters. Meanwhile, "rave" has a much older pedigree, wandering into English from the Old French raver, meaning "to wander" or "be mad," settling by the 14th century into a description of furious, uncontrolled behavior—a person literally foaming at the mouth with rage. The fusion of these two powerful, visually evocative verbs, "rant" and "rave," created a phrase that perfectly captures the escalating, double-barreled force of a person completely overtaken by fury, their words spilling forth in a torrent of unbridled anger and wild gesticulation, a true storm of human emotion.
Examples
- After losing the game, the coach began to rant and rave at the referees for what he saw as unfair calls.
- She would often rant and rave about the inefficiency of the public transport system during her morning commute.