bunkum
/ˈbʌŋkəm/ noun
Forms bunkums buncombe
- noun (slang, dated, countable) Senseless talk; nonsense; a piece of nonsense.
- noun (politics, dated) Bombastic political posturing or oratorical display designed only for show or public applause.
Synonyms
absurdity all my eye all my eye and Betty Martin apple grease applesauce bafflegab balderdash balls baloney banana oil Bandini baragouin batcrap batshit bilgewater blah blah-blah blah-blah-blah blather blatherskite bunk buncombe guff rot hogwash
Etymology
From buncombe, from “speaking to (or for) Buncombe County, North Carolina”, a county in North Carolina named for Edward Buncombe. In 1820, Felix Walker, who represented the county in the U.S. House of Representatives, rose to address the question of admitting Missouri as a free or slave state, his first attempt to speak on the subject after nearly a month of solid debate, right before the vote was to be called. To the exasperation of colleagues, he began a long and wearisome speech, explaining that he was speaking not to Congress but "to Buncombe." He was ultimately shouted down by his colleagues, though his speech was published in a Washington paper and his persistence made "buncombe" (later respelled "bunkum") a synonym for meaningless political claptrap and later for any kind of nonsense, at first only in the jargon of Washington and then in common usage.
Webster’s 1913
- noun 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.]
- noun See Buncombe.
Etymology [Buncombe a country of North Carolina.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bunkum”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details