I thought I would start with the Oxford Dictionary’s explanation as to exactly what ranting is, Sorry Lawley, but  that’s 12 of my words ( I love a good technicality!!)

If you  are new to the art of ranting then the most obvious place to start is talkback radio, where people who have way too much time on their hands and earnestly believe that everyone is interested in what they have to say, get riled up by some right wing  …**! who’s busy getting kic... sponsorship from the enormously large corporations they should be defending the “little person” against. Thank God for the internet where everyone can have a good solid rant against the machine and we no longer have to rely on the word being controlled by the incompetent media. (but that’s a whole other rant. See ABC’s Mediawatch for some inspiration.)

Anyway, a short history of  ranting

Ever since man walked out of the trees and not off a spaceship, (yet another excellent ranting topic) man has ranted. Cave dwellers in France discovered detailed drawings explicitly depicting a long and drawn out visual rant about someone named Ogg and Zorg and a landrights issue.

Plato is well reputed to have been a ranter or an opinionated git depending on who you spoke to.

Both world wars gave rise to an extraordinary amount of ranting, Probably the most significant being Hitler (but we didn’t understand him) so we have to go with Winston Churchill who was busy ranting about fights and beaches in between drinks.

The drug filled sixties was dominated by great ranters. I can’t think of any at the moment but I am sure they’re there.

The Seventies gave rise to one of the most famous ranters of them all Hunter S Thompson and the rest is history….. and I’m sure this is all accurate as I found it on the internet.

Next post:  Great ranters of our time!