Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Bunkum

{

Bun′combe

,

Bun′kum

}
,
Noun.
[
Buncombe
a county of North Carolina.]
Speech-making for the gratification of constituents, or to gain public applause; flattering talk for a selfish purpose; anything said for mere show.
[Cant or Slang, U.S.]
All that flourish about right of search was
bunkum
– all that brag about hanging your Canada sheriff was
bunkum
. . . slavery speeches are all
bunkum
.
Haliburton.
To speak for Buncombe
,
to speak for mere show, or popularly.
☞ “The phrase originated near the close of the debate on the famous ‘Missouri Question,’ in the 16th Congress. It was then used by Felix Walker – a naïve old mountaineer, who resided at Waynesville, in Haywood, the most western country of North Carolina, near the border of the adjacent county of
Buncombe
, which formed part of his district. The old man rose to speak, while the house was impatiently calling for the ‘Question,' and several members gathered round him, begging him to desist. He persevered, however, for a while, declaring that the people of his district expected it, and that he was bound to ‘make a speech for
Buncombe
.'”
W. Darlington.

Bun′kum

,
Noun.
See
Buncombe
.

Definition 2024

bunkum

bunkum

English

Alternative forms

Noun

bunkum ‎(countable and uncountable, plural bunkums)

  1. (slang) Senseless talk; nonsense; a piece of nonsense (countable).
  2. (Washington, DC) Any bombastic political posturing or an oratorical display not accompanied by conviction; speechmaking designed for show or public applause. [1820s]

Quotations

  • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:bunkum.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:nonsense

Derived terms

References

  1. 1 2 debunk – The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language Online, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, accessed 2014-11-28
  2. ↑ Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 16th Congress, 1st Session Pages 1539 & 1540 of 2628
  3. ↑ Missouri Question: Speech of Mr. Walker, of N.C.

Etymology

1830s, from buncombe, from “speaking to Buncombe” (or “for Buncombe”) from Buncombe County, North Carolina, named for Edward Buncombe.

In 1820, Felix Walker, who represented Buncombe County, North Carolina, in the U.S. House of Representatives, rose to address the question of admitting Missouri as a free or slave state. This was his first attempt to speak on this subject after nearly a month of solid debate and right before the vote was to be called. Allegedly, to the exasperation of his colleagues, Walker insisted on delivering the long and wearisome speech. He explained that he wasn't speaking to congress, but "to Buncombe."[1] He was shouted down by his colleagues.[2] His persistent effort made "buncombe" (later respelled "bunkum") a synonym for meaningless political claptrap and later for any kind of nonsense.[1] Although he was unable to make the speech in front of Congress it was still published in a Washington newspaper.[3]

The term became a joke and metaphor in Washington, then entered common usage; see discussion on talk page.

Our readers have, perhaps, often heard of ‘speaking to Buncombe,’ by which phrase is signified a speech not intended or expected to have any influence on those to whom it is addressed, but designed for the speaker’s constituents. It originated with a representative from North Carolina, who came from the county of Buncombe, and who being asked, one day, why he continued to speak to empty benches, ‘O!’ he replied, ‘I am speaking to Buncombe.’
Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics, 1838-12-15

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