The History of Bunk

The word "bunk," which is short for "bunkum," isn't used all that much anymore, but maybe it should be. A word like this deserves to be kept around, if just for its history (and to remind us that Congress has always had its ... moments ...). It seems that on February 25, 1820, Congress was all in a dither. The focus of their debate was actually quite a serious one, the Missouri Compromise. Well, during this agitation, the representative from North Carolina, one Felix Walker, stood up and began a long and rambling speech that had little, if anything, to do with the matter at hand. When his colleagues objected, he told them that he was speaking not to them but to his constituents in Buncombe County. Buncombe, bunkum, long-winded digressions ~ you see where this is headed (http://www.history.com/topics/missouri-compromise): http://blogs.lib.unc.edu/ncm/index.php/2004/02/01/this_month_feb_1820/