We’ve all witnessed a friend or family member taking a load of rubbish once or twice.
And, while the English language has no shortage of verbs suited to people talking nonsense – rave, gabble, babble, waffle and so on – Italian speakers also have some aces up their sleeves when describing insufferable piffle.
One of the most common Italian verbs expressly referring to the (very ignoble) art of talking rubbish is ‘ranting’ (pronunciation available here).
Granted, the word might be a bit of a mouthful at first, but keeping in mind that the accent falls on the last ‘a’ will help you get it right sooner rather than later.
Italians use the verb in a variety of ways, but the most popular construction is the following:
What are you raving about?!
What the hell are you talking about?!
If you’re planning on using the verb in this way, you should remember that the more disgusted you’ll sound when uttering the question, the more impact it’ll ultimately have.
But, if you’re looking for a construction leaning less towards anger and/or disgust and more towards disappointment or frustration, you may want to use the following:
Mama mia, you’re just raving…
My god, you really are raving…
Alternatively, if you want to tell someone that what they’re saying is absurd but don’t want to be too harsh on them, you might use a sentence like this:
But why do you have to rave?
Why are you talking nonsense?
This kind of conveys the message that whoever is doing the rambling is actually capable of saying sensible things, though he’s choosing not to do so at that precise moment in time.
That said, regardless of how it is used, ‘ranting’ is a fairly strong word and, if used in the wrong place and at the wrong time, it may land you in trouble.
So, as a final piece of advice, use it with caution and, if possible, only with people you know well.