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bunk

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 7:22 pm
by Bailey
bunk 1 (bngk)
n.
1. A narrow bed built like a shelf into or against a wall, as in a ship's cabin.
2. A bunk bed.
3. A place for sleeping.
v. bunked, bunk·ing, bunks
v.intr.
1.
a. To sleep in a bunk or bed.
b. To stay the night; sleep: bunk over at a friend's house.
2. To go to bed: bunked down early.
v.tr.
To provide with sleeping quarters.

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[Perhaps short for bunker.]

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bunk 2 (bngk)
n.
Empty talk; nonsense.



[Short for bunkum.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words AntonymsNoun 1. bunk - a long trough for feeding cattle
feed bunk
manger, trough - a container (usually in a barn or stable) from which cattle or horses feed
2. bunk - a bed on a ship or train; usually in tiers
built in bed, berth
bed - a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep; "he sat on the edge of the bed"; "the room had only a bed and chair"
lower, lower berth - the lower of two berths
upper, upper berth - the higher of two berths
3. bunk - a rough bed (as at a campsite)
bed - a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep; "he sat on the edge of the bed"; "the room had only a bed and chair"
4. bunk - unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements)
buncombe, bunkum, guff, hogwash, rot.
5. bunk - a message that seems to convey no meaning
hokum, meaninglessness, nonsense, nonsensicality
subject matter, content, message, substance - what a communication that is about something is about
absurdity, absurdness, ridiculousness - a message whose content is at variance with reason
amphigory, nonsense verse - nonsensical writing (usually verse)
balderdash, fiddle-faddle, piffle - trivial nonsense
buzzword, cant - stock phrases that have become nonsense through endless repetition
cobblers - nonsense; "I think that is a load of cobblers"
crock - nonsense; foolish talk; "that's a crock"
fa la, fal la - meaningless syllables in the refrain of a part-song
gibber, gibberish - unintelligible talking
unintelligibility, incoherence, incoherency - nonsense that is simply incoherent and unintelligible
jabberwocky - nonsensical language (according to Lewis Carroll)
mummery, flummery - meaningless ceremonies and flattery
empty talk, empty words, hot air, palaver, rhetoric - loud and confused and empty talk; "mere rhetoric"
rigamarole, rigmarole - a set of confused and meaningless statements
schmegegge, shmegegge - (Yiddish) baloney; hot air; nonsense
hooey, poppycock, stuff and nonsense, stuff - senseless talk; "don't give me that stuff"
baloney, bilgewater, boloney, bosh, drool, humbug, tommyrot, tosh, twaddle, taradiddle, tarradiddle - pretentious or silly talk or writing
6. bunk - beds built one above the other
bunk bed
bed - a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep; "he sat on the edge of the bed"; "the room had only a bed and chair"

mark de-bunked Bailey

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:30 pm
by Perry
Imagine, all those definitions in bed together...

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:47 pm
by Palewriter
So where did bunkum come from? According to the AHD:

Bunk came from a place where much bunk has originated, the United States Congress. During the 16th Congress (1819-1821) Felix Walker, a representative from western North Carolina whose district included Buncombe County, carried on with a dull speech in the face of protests by his colleagues. Walker later explained he had felt obligated "to make a speech for Buncombe." Such a masterful symbol for empty talk could not be ignored by the speakers of the language, and Buncombe, spelled Bunkum in its first recorded appearance in 1828 and later shortened to bunk, became synonymous with claptrap.

Hm.

-- PW

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 9:30 am
by Perry
And yet, from first hand experience, a wonderful county to live in.

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 9:37 am
by Bailey
PW, I posted bunk because I was wondering where bunkum came from , thank you so much for such a speedy return.

mark completely-de-bunked Bailey