Buncombe

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.]
     [1913 Webster]


  
           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.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {To speak for Buncombe}, to speak for mere show, or
        popularly.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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 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.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  buncombe
       n : unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false
           statements) [syn: {bunk}, {bunkum}, {guff}, {rot}, {hogwash}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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
  
  

From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:

  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

From U.S. Gazetteer Counties (2000) [gaz-county]:

  Buncombe -- U.S. County in North Carolina
     Population (2000):    206330
     Housing Units (2000): 93973
     Land area (2000):     655.989803 sq. miles (1699.005718 sq. km)
     Water area (2000):    3.810271 sq. miles (9.868555 sq. km)
     Total area (2000):    659.800074 sq. miles (1708.874273 sq. km)
     Located within:       North Carolina (NC), FIPS 37
     Location:             35.595260 N, 82.531461 W
     Headwords:
      Buncombe
      Buncombe, NC
      Buncombe County
      Buncombe County, NC
  

From U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000) [gaz-place]:

  Buncombe, IL -- U.S. village in Illinois
     Population (2000):    186
     Housing Units (2000): 86
     Land area (2000):     1.208937 sq. miles (3.131132 sq. km)
     Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
     Total area (2000):    1.208937 sq. miles (3.131132 sq. km)
     FIPS code:            09551
     Located within:       Illinois (IL), FIPS 17
     Location:             37.470987 N, 88.974935 W
     ZIP Codes (1990):     62912
     Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
     Headwords:
      Buncombe, IL
      Buncombe