It sounds like one who is strange in the extreme (albeit not threatening) from the speaker's viewpoint....Gov. Perry just used it in talking about neighbors taking strangers in during the texas fire situation...I'm pretty sure i've heard it in other informal conversational contexts
"We got people taking in rank strangers"...to show a unique level of hospitality among Texans, as compared to others
by ragtop94 September 6, 2011