BUNCOMBE or BUNKUM (from Buncombe county, N.C., U.S.A.), 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 182o, during the debate on the Missouri compromise in the U.S. 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."