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BUNCOMBE, or BUNKUM (from Buncombe county, North Carolina, United States)
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BUNCOMBE, or BUNKUM (from Buncombe county, North Carolina, United States), a term used for insincere political action or speaking to gain support or the favour of a constituency, and so any humbug or clap-trap. The phrase " to talk for (or to) Buncombe " arose in 1820, during the debate on the Missouri Compromise in Congress; the member for the district containing Buncombe county confessed that his long and much interrupted speech was only made because his electors expected it, and that he was " speaking for Buncombe."