Do you know where the word 'spam' comes from?

[Tarifa]

The answer may surprise you.

Updates

8 mo

See exitseven and Lliam's posts for the correct answer.

[Lliam]

Spam was introduced in 1937, by the Hormel Foods Corporation. The canned meat product was created to increase the sale of pork shoulder and was initially called "Spiced Ham". The name "SPAM" was chosen after Hormel held a naming contest in 1936, and it is widely believed to be a portmanteau of "spiced ham".

The word "spam" for unsolicited junk email comes from a 1970 Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch. The skit featured a restaurant where "Spam" appeared in every dish on the menu. It escalated to the point where Vikings sang a loud and repetitive song about Spam, overwhelming the waitress's attempts to speak.

Early internet users, particularly in text-based online games called Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs), started using "spam" to describe flooding a chat session with so much repetitive text that it drowned out others.

The term was then applied to the first mass, unsolicited messages sent to Usenet newsgroups, like the notorious "Green Card" lottery post in 1994. The term's association with unwanted, repetitive online content made it a perfect metaphor for junk email that floods inboxes.

[Tarifa]

Correct.

[strateguy632]

Same Post Again Multiplied. SPAM also if pointless "Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages".

[sage2021]

No, but I love to eat fried Spam with scrambled eggs 😋

[sage2021]

Thank you for the MHO 🙂🧡

[Nikki1989]

[DishLady]

...

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

Like the brand name meat in a can spam or the kind of spam you get in your email?

[FreyaRed]

"SPecial Army Meat"

[douride2]

All I know is it has something to do with ham.

[strateguy632]

salted + pork + ham = SPAM

[midnightmoon05]

The canned meat for the soilders.

[purplepoppy]

It's a contraction of Spice ham

[Kelly6]

@Tarifa spam meat

[Tarifa]

Correct, but there is a little bit more to the story.

[exitseven]

Monty Python.