Crossword clues for buncombe
buncombe
The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.
[1913 Webster] ||
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
see bunk (n.2).
Wiktionary
n. (alternative spelling of bunkum English)
WordNet
Gazetteer
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
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, NC
Buncombe County
Buncombe County, NC
Wikipedia
Buncombe may refer to:
- Buncombe County, North Carolina
- Buncombe, Illinois
- An alternate spelling of Buncom, Oregon
- wikt:buncombe or wikt:bunkum, a term meaning "nonsense", derived from 19th-century American politics.
Usage examples of "buncombe".
Morgan--How Hyde Lost His Ranch-The Great Landslide Case--The Trial--General Buncombe in Court--A Wonderful Decision--A Serious Afterthought CHAPTER XXXV.
General Buncombe was shipped out to Nevada in the invoice of Territorial officers, to be United States Attorney.
He walked two hours and a half, and at last his face lit up happily and he told Buncombe it had occurred to him that the ranch underneath the new Morgan ranch still belonged to Hyde, that his title to the ground was just as good as it had ever been, and therefore he was of opinion that Hyde had a right to dig it out from under there and-- The General never waited to hear the end of it.
Burnsville the next point in our route was Asheville, the most considerable city in western North Carolina, a resort of fashion, and the capital of Buncombe County.
Stokes left office at the new year, and the new governor was a man called David Swain, who came from Buncombe County, not far from here.
On the twenty-first of June a letter arrived from Raleigh via the Buncombe Mail, granting the prisoner a two-week stay of execution.
They have followed the porno maniacs in embracing a piece of buncombe, and when the day of deliverance comes it will turn to ashes in their arms.
He had made his own reflections upon the tastelessness of the rhetoric, and the obvious buncombe of the motive, and he had not taken the matter seriously.
The summer home of Senator Vance during the later years of his life was in his native county of Buncombe, about twenty miles from Asheville, where for some days I was his guest, many years ago.
Many years ago, near the western border of Buncombe County, lived an old negro who had in early life been a member of the family of the father of Senator Vance.
When I note how few Catholics are engaged in honestly tilling the honest soil, and how many Catholics are engaged in the liquor traffic, I cannot talk buncombe to anybody.
When I reflect that out of the 70,000,000 of this nation we number only 9,000,000, and that out of that 9,000,000 so large a proportion is made up of poor factory hands, poor mill and shop and mine and railroad employees, poor government clerks, I still fail to find material for buncombe or spread-eagle or taffy-giving.