| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| bunkum |
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| SYLLABICATION: | bun·kum |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  b ng k m |
| VARIANT FORMS: | also bun·combe |
| NOUN: | Empty or insincere talk; claptrap. | | ETYMOLOGY: | After Buncombe, a county of western North Carolina, from a remark made around 1820 by its congressman, who felt obligated to give a dull speech “for Buncombe”.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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