[escepticos] RV: A.Word.A.Day--debunk

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-----Original Message-----
De: Wordsmith <wsmith en wordsmith.org>
Para: linguaphile en wordsmith.org <linguaphile en wordsmith.org>
Fecha: martes 14 de abril de 1998 11:47
Asunto: A.Word.A.Day--debunk


>debunk (di-BUNGK) tr.verb
>
>   To expose or ridicule the falseness, sham, or exaggerated claims of:
>
>WORD HISTORY: One can readily see that debunk is constructed from the
prefix
>de-, meaning "to remove," and the word bunk. But what is the origin of the
>word bunk, denoting the nonsense that is to be removed? 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, continued on with a dull
>speech in the face of protests by his colleagues. Walker replied 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,
>actually spelled Bunkum in its first recorded appearance in 1828 and later
>shortened to bunk, became synonymous with claptrap. The response to all
this
>bunk seems to have been delayed, for debunk is not recorded until 1923.
>
>   "But his aim is to portray Dahl as 'a capricious tycoon' rather than a
>   great writer, to debunk the 'myths' that he claims Dahl put about
>   concerning himself in Boy and Going Solo."
>   Christina Hardyment, Book Review / The pink plastic dummy award: 'Roald
>   Dahl', Independent, 12 Mar 1994.
>
>This week's theme: words with interesting histories.
>
>...........................................................................
>It is man's sympathy with all creatures that first makes him truly a man.
>-Albert Schweitzer
>
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