Editing Debunker (section)

==Etymology==
The ''[[American Heritage Dictionary]]'' traces the passage of the words "bunk" (noun), "debunk" (verb) and "debunker" (noun) into American English in 1923 as a belated outgrowth of "[[bunkum]]". The first recorded use of the words was in 1828, apparently related to a poorly received "speech for [[Buncombe County, North Carolina]]" given by [[North Carolina]] representative [[Felix Walker (American politician)|Felix Walker]] during the [[16th United States Congress]] (1819–1821).<ref name="ahd">{{cite book|chapter=debunk|chapter-url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/46/D0064600.html|title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]]|location=Boston|year=2000|edition=4th|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406173424/http://www.bartleby.com/61/46/D0064600.html|archive-date=2008-04-06}}</ref>

The term "debunk" [[neologism|originated]] in a 1923 novel ''Bunk'', by American journalist and popular historian [[W. E. Woodward]] (1874–1950), who used it to mean to "take the [[wikt:bunkum|bunk]] out of things".<ref name="bunk">{{cite book|author=Woodward, William|year=1923|title=Bunk|publisher=Harper & Brothers|isbn=978-0306708466}}</ref>

The term "debunkery" is not limited to arguments about scientific validity; it is also used in a more general sense at attempts to discredit any opposing point of view, such as that of a political opponent.