Bunkum
Alternative forms
Origin
1830s, from buncombe, from “speaking to Buncombe†(or “for Buncombeâ€) from Buncombe County, North Carolina, named for Edward Buncombe.
In 1820, Felix Walker (American politician), who represented , in the U.S. House of Representatives, rose to address the . 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 a long and wearisome "speech for Buncombe."
debunk – The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000, Houghton Mifflin, , accessed 2009-01-11
He was shouted down by his colleagues.
Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 16th Congress, 1st Session Pages 1539 & 1540 of 2628
His persistent effort made "buncombe" (later respelled "bunkum") a synonym for meaningless political claptrap and later for any kind of nonsense.
debunk – The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000, Houghton Mifflin, , accessed 2009-01-11
Although he was unable to make the speech in front of Congress it was still published in a Washington newspaper.
The term became a joke and metaphor in Washington, then entered common usage; see .
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.’
Full definition of bunkum
Noun
bunkum
(countable and uncountable; plural bunkums)- (slang) senseless talk; nonsense; a piece of nonsense (countable)
- (Washington, D.C. circa 1828) any bombastic political posturing or an oratorical display not accompanied by conviction; speechmaking designed for show or public applause.