Article: Why use the word "Debunk"

[Mick]

You can view the page at http://metabunk.org/content.php?125-...he-word-Debunk

[tryblinking]

I believe a new T-shirt slogan has been born.

[Charlie Primero]

> "Debunking. Getting rid of the bunk. It's what we do."

A bunk is:

1. a built-in platform bed, as on a ship.

2. Informal . any bed.

3. a cabin used for sleeping quarters, as in a summer camp; bunkhouse.

4. a trough for feeding cattle.



I think you meant; "bunkum"

1. insincere speechmaking by a politician intended merely to please local constituents.



2. insincere talk; claptrap; humbug.



Also, buncombe.


Origin:
Americanism ; after speech in 16th Congress, 1819–21, by F. Walker, who said he was bound to speak for Buncombe (N.C. county in district he represented)

[MikeC]

Bunk is a generally accepted shortening of bunkum that appear in many dictinoaries, if not all, eg:

Content from external source:

bunk1
n
1. a narrow shelflike bed fixed along a wall
2. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Furniture) short for bunk bed
3. Informal any place where one sleeps
vb
1. (intr; often foll by down) to prepare to sleep he bunked down on the floor
2. (intr) to occupy a bunk or bed
3. (tr) to provide with a bunk or bed
[probably short for bunker]

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bunk2
n
Informal short for bunkum [1]

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bunk3 Brit slang
n
a hurried departure, usually under suspicious circumstances (esp in the phrase do a bunk)
vb
(usually foll by off) to play truant from (school, work, etc.)
[perhaps from bunk1 (in the sense: to occupy a bunk, hence a hurried departure, as on a ship)]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bunk