What does the word "ranger" mean? For the majority of domestic citizens, this question would be a mystery if it were not for the television of the nineties. After all, it was it that introduced viewers to such American serial projects as Walker, Texas Ranger and Power Rangers. If the performer of the role of Walker is Chuck Norris, although long retired, but still unrealistically cool, then the Power Rangers franchise experienced another restart in 2017. While the fans of this project are arguing about the pros and cons, let's find out more about the very noun that all these characters proudly call themselves.
The meaning of the word "ranger" and its translation
In the original, the term in question looks like this: ranger and is translated as “wanderer”, “tramp”, “forester”, “huntsman”, etc.
In Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic languages there is no one hundred percent analogue to it, because some of the concepts that it means are simply absent or have a slightly different look. In fact, in the domestic sense, the ranger profession is a cross between a forester and a district police officer.
The lexical meaning of the term in the original language
Bin modern English, this word has several types of interpretations at once.
- Keeper of law and order in the countryside, as well as a gamekeeper in national parks and forests.
- In Texas for several centuries there has been a special police unit - the Texas Rangers. By the way, the famous Walker is a representative of just such guardians of law and order.
- Simultaneously with the first meaning, rangers are people living or traveling in the wild. A kind of analogue of tramps. Moreover, depending on the type of terrain, they are divided into rangers of the mountain (mountains), rangers of the lands (plains).
- Among the Americans, along with the first interpretation, rangers are also military saboteurs from special squads. This branch of the military is very respected and it is far from easy to join it.
In the modern US Army there is a special parachute reconnaissance regiment of rangers 75th Ranger Regiment. Its members are always ready to perform tasks of any complexity. It is generally accepted that in case of an alarm, each of them is able to be anywhere in the world in just eighteen hours. Each soldier of this kind takes an oath-acrostic. It consists of six paragraphs, each of which begins with one of the letters of the word RANGER.
British rangers are also called a specific kind of guides
Proper names
Also, this noun denotes the name of a series of unmanned American spacecraft that were used tomoon exploration. In total, in the period from 1961 to 1965. nine such vehicles were launched.
In addition, the Rangers are the names of two famous American aircraft carriers.
In addition to all of the above, a series of compact pickup trucks with a Ford body is called the Ford Ranger. This name was given to her to emphasize the ability of such cars to drive on any terrain.
Also, this is the name of a football club, and not one, but two at once. They are the Scottish Rangers Football Club from Glasgow and the Chilean Club Social de Deportes Rangers from Talca.
History of the term
Having figured out what the word "ranger" means, it's worth delving into its history. This noun appeared in English at the end of the 14th century. It was formed from the verb range (“line up”, “wander”). Initially, this was the name of the huntsmen.
By the end of the 17th century. this word began to be called not just foresters, but also those who protect law and order in various territories. Moreover, the rangers were not only footmen, but also mounted policemen.
There is a version that with the beginning of the English colonization of the lands of North America, rangers became the name of British saboteurs. For the first time, this method of naming soldiers is mentioned during the war of the British with the Indians in the territory of modern New England. In honor of the governor of these lands, such scouts were called "Church Rangers".
After several decades, when the British were already fighting not only with Native Americans, but also with colleagues-colonialists from France, a special sabotage company was created - the Rogers Rangers.
American saboteurs officially became known as such a word during World War II (from 1941-1942) and have retained this name to this day.
Walker, Texas Ranger TV series
This term is most familiar to the domestic audience thanks to the nine seasons of the American TV series Walker - Texas Ranger.
From 1993 to 2001, its protagonist, Vietnam War veteran Cordell Walker, heroically fought various offenders, demonstrating skillful martial arts.
This project had a great impact on American film culture in the nineties. It was based on the full-length film Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire. In addition, the series had a one-season spin-off, Sons of Thunder.
Chuck Norris, who played the main role in this project and showed the whole world what rescue rangers should be, became incredibly popular thanks to the series. He was equated in terms of "coolness" with such iconic action actors of the nineties as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Sylvester Stallone.
Power Rangers Series
Another popularizer of the word ranger in Russian and Ukrainian is the television series about superheroes - "Power Rangers" (translated by Power Rangers).
Like the Walker project, this one also began airing in 1993. Todaytwenty-three seasons have already been released, with a total of 844 episodes. In the winter of 2017, the new (24th) season of the project started.
At the center of the plot are six superheroes fighting against villainous aliens who dream of destroying the world. In different seasons, these rescuers became different characters. Despite the fact that different people could act as heroes, the black ranger always became the leader of the team.
