KnowMore: Rants

A rant or harangue 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, and very often lacks proven claims. Such attacks are usually personal attacks. Compare with a dialectic.

In some cases, rants are based on facts and concrete information, but the key ideas expressed are what the individual personally feels.

However, some rants are used not to attack something, but to defend an individual, idea or organization. Rants of this type generally occur after the subject has been attacked by another individual or group.

To rave" about someone or something was to be extremely enthusiastic. (This usage differed from an earlier meaning of the word that meant to rant.)

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rant