ran-tan1
/ˈrantan/(also ran-dan, rang-tang)
verb
[with object] English regional ( northern and midlands ). To condemn and humiliate (a husband) publicly for beating his wife, typically by causing a disturbance outside his house by beating pots and kettles, singing and chanting loudly, etc., and sometimes also by beating him, chasing him from the town, or compelling him to ‘ride the stang’. Also occasionally without object. Now historical.
Origin
Mid 17th century (in an earlier sense). Ultimately imitative.
ran-tan2
/ˈrantan/(also ran-dan, ran-a-dan)
exclamation
Representing a loud and repetitive banging noise, especially that made by knocking or drumming.
- In later use English regional, as part of a chant accompanying the ‘rantanning’ of a husband who has beaten his wife; see ran-tan (now historical )..
Origin
Early 17th century; earliest use found in Thomas Dekker (c1572–1632), playwright and pamphleteer. Ultimately imitative.