BUNCOMBE DEFINITIONS - 8 definitions found
buncombe n 1: unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements) [syn: bunk, bunkum, buncombe, guff, rot, hogwash] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) buncombe noun see bunkum Oxford English Reference Dictionary
English Explanatory Dictionary buncombe ˈbʌŋkəm var. of BUNKUM. The Nuttall Encyclopaedia (1907) Buncombe a district in N. Carolina, for the ears of the constituency of which a dull speech was some years ago delivered in the U.S. Congress, whence the phrase to "talk Buncombe," i. e. to please one's constituency. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Buncombe \Bun"combe\, Bunkum \Bun"kum\, n. [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. Note: ``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 na["i]ve 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 preserved, 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. Buncombe, IL (village, FIPS 9551) Location: 37.47094 N, 88.97486 W Population (1990): 208 (94 housing units) Area: 3.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 62912 Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 79 Moby Thesaurus words for "buncombe": Washingtonese, adulation, balls, baloney, big talk, bilge, blague, blah, blah-blah, blandishment, blarney, bop, bosh, bull, bullshit, bunk, bunkum, cajolement, cajolery, claptrap, compliment, crap, eyewash, fair words, fancy talk, fawning, federalese, fine talk, fish story, flam, flapdoodle, flattery, flimflam, gammon, gas, gobbledygook, grease, guff, gup, highfalutin, highfaluting, hogwash, hoke, hokum, honeyed phrases, honeyed words, hooey, hot air, humbug, humbuggery, incense, jiggery-pokery, malarkey, moonshine, official jargon, officialese, oil, palaver, piffle, political doubletalk, poppycock, praise, pretty lies, pussyfooting, rot, scat, shit, soap, soft soap, sweet nothings, sweet talk, sweet words, sycophancy, tall story, tall talk, tommyrot, tripe, wheedling, wind |
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