Quote Originally Posted by Water_Bear View Post
Uh... what?

Rangers are called rangers for the same reason Aragorn (the iconic ranger on whom D&D based the class) was called Strider. They are wardens and guardians of the wilderness, who, as you put it "range about" to defend their charges against threats out of the wilds.
You're selectively quoting. You missed the bit where I wasn't sure how sarcastic I was being. I think I was being fairly sarcastic.
But the fact that their name has "range" in it has often led people to think they're bow-users and fighters have to be melee weapon-users.