What does bunkum mean?
Bunkum refers to empty, insincere, or exaggerated talk — language produced to flatter, placate, or impress an audience rather than to convey truth. It is most often aimed at political speeches, official statements, and pompous rhetoric of any kind, and it carries a distinctly contemptuous tone. The word has an unusually vivid origin: it derives from Buncombe County, North Carolina, whose congressman Felix Walker reportedly insisted on delivering a long-winded, irrelevant speech around 1820 because his constituents expected him to speak "for Buncombe." The phrase "talking for Buncombe" spread through American politics and eventually contracted into "bunkum" and its shorter form, "bunk." Today the word appears chiefly in editorial writing and informal criticism — phrases like "pure bunkum" or "political bunkum" are common. Though somewhat dated in flavor, it remains a colorful, precise way to dismiss rhetoric as hollow nonsense.
nounEmpty, insincere, or exaggerated talk intended to please an audience rather than convey truth; nonsense or claptrap.
- Empty, pretentious, or insincere speech designed to impress or placate rather than inform.
- (By extension) general nonsense or rubbish of any kind.
"The senator's speech was dismissed by critics as pure bunkum."
"The report's grand promises turned out to be nothing but bunkum."
"He cut through the corporate bunkum and asked the one question that mattered."
Rarely pluralized; bunkum is almost always used as an uncountable mass noun referring to a category of speech.
"The debate consisted of two hours of rival bunkums — though even this usage is uncommon."
"Bunkum" was born in Congress: in 1820, a North Carolina congressman declared he had to keep talking merely "for Buncombe" — his home county — and America has called political hot air "bunk" ever since.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bunkum
Bunkum originated in early nineteenth-century American politics as a respelling of "Buncombe," a county in western North Carolina. Around 1820, Congressman Felix Walker of Buncombe persisted in delivering an irrelevant speech, explaining that he was speaking "for Buncombe" to satisfy his constituents back home. The phrase "to talk for Buncombe" came to mean making empty speeches for show, and it was soon clipped and respelled as "bunkum" (and later shortened further to "bunk"). It entered broader British and American usage over the course of the century as a general term for humbug and nonsense.
How bunkum is actually used
Informal to mildly formal register; often used with a tone of contempt toward political or official rhetoric. The shortened form "bunk" (as in H.L. Mencken's "The American Credo" and the phrase "bunk") is more common in everyday American English, while "bunkum" retains a slightly old-fashioned flavor. Common in both British and US usage.
Easily confused with bunkum
A bunker is a fortified shelter or a sand trap on a golf course, while bunkum means empty or nonsensical talk.