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BUNCOMBE (n. pl. - S)
Definition(s):
- (n.) nonsense; foolish talk
- (n.) empty or insincere speech making by a politician to please local voters or gain publicity
Useful information for game players:
- Front hooks: (none)
- Back hooks: -S
- Anagrams: (none)
- Longer extensions: (none)
- Wraparounds: (none)
- Other Spellings: BUNKUM
- Related Forms: BUNK, DEBUNK
Epilogue:
This word, like the rest of the ones we’ll examine this week, was truly born and bred in America. In 1820, in the midst of a congressional debate over the Missouri Compromise, Representative Felix Walker rose to deliver a speech — on a completely unrelated matter of little consequence. When his colleagues protested, Walker explained that he was just “speaking to Buncombe,” meaning to the folks back in his local district of Buncombe County, North Carolina. Thereafter, BUNCOMBE came to mean any nonsense or empty speech. The spelling was later altered to BUNKUM, or just BUNK, and the verb DEBUNK was patterned after it.
In a fortuitous connection, the North Carolina county that Walker represented was named after Edward Buncombe, a colonel who had fought for independence in the Revolutionary War.
This week’s theme: Words born in America
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