Posted on 11/13/2002 6:35:41 PM PST by SierraWasp
This is a test of the institutional memory of FReeperdom.
My query is first about the tasty canned meat, but also to learn if the current common slang regarding undesirable e-mail is in anyway related, or if that term has it's own independent basis in origination.
1. The proprietary name of a type of tinned meat consisting chiefly of pork; also (with lower-case initial) applied loosely to other types of tinned luncheon meat.
1937 Squeal 1 July 1/2 In the last month Geo. A. Hormel & Co...launched the product Spam... The ‘think-up’ of the name [is] credited to Kenneth Daigneau, New York actor... Seems as if he had considered the word a good memorable trade-name for some time, had only waited for a product to attach it to. 1937 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 26 Oct. 750/2 Geo. A. Hormel & Company, Austin, Minn... Spam..For Canned MeatsNamely, Spiced Ham. Claims use since May 11, 1937. 1939 J. STEINBECK Grapes of Wrath v. 49 The tractor driver stopped..and opened his lunch: sandwiches wrapped in waxed paper, white bread, pickle, cheese, Spam. 1942 Yank 28 Oct. 8 There, arrayed in all their glory, were slices of ham, spam, bologna and potato salad. 1951 ‘A. GARVE’ Murder in Moscow xiii. 127, I received..four tins of meatspam, I think it was called. 1957 H. ROOSENBURG Walls came tumbling Down ix. 199 We were offered Spam sandwiches. 1971 C. BONINGTON Annapurna South Face xi. 134 That night he made supper, a magnificent concoction of fried Spam and fried new potatoes. 1981 G. MACBETH Kind of Treason iv. 41 A plate of Molly's best Spam sandwiches.
fig. 1958 Listener 6 Nov. 750/2 An actor can only turn the quite unconscious richness of it [sc. the Hoxton voice] intospam.
2. Comb. Spam can slang, a streamlined steam locomotive formerly used on the Southern Region of British Rail; Spam medal Mil. slang, a medal awarded to all the members of a force (see also quot. 1962).
1967 G. F. FIENNES I tried to run Railway v. 54 We borrowed from the Southern for trials two Battle of Britain class engines..We took these Spam Cans out. 1971 D. J. SMITH Discovery Railwayana x. 59 Spam can, streamlined locomotive of the SR.
1945 PARTRIDGE Dict. R.A.F. Slang 40 Naffy gong 1939-45 star (medal). Since late 1943... It is also called the spam medal. 1959 Legionary Mar. 11/1 As all of us overseas at the time were volunteers, it meant that everybody wore one and so, in patronizing fashion, we tagged it [sc. the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal] the Spam Medal. 1962 GRANVILLE Dict. Sailors' Slang 110 Spam medal, 1939-45 star whose ribbon has the same colours as the NAAFI girls' arm flash. As spam, a kind of spiced-ham, was sold in the NAAFI canteen, what more obvious term could suggest itself?
Hence spammy a., consisting or tasting chiefly of (bland) luncheon meat; also fig., commonplace, mediocre, unexciting.
1959 Observer 11 Jan. 18/3 Skipton is toned down to scale with our spammy age. 1960 J. STROUD Shorn Lamb i. 13 We got a spammy sort of meal.
Hay Geek, wouldn't in be more PC to say:
Smart People Allow Mastication?
What? Did'ja join some leftist population control commune?(grin)
We're talkin about chewing stuff like SPAM here, not something that rhymes with chewing!!!
You've obviously got to too much time, or something, on your hands!!!(wipe that grin off yer face, fella)
darkroom = Room in which dark is stored. When door is opened, the dark leaks out.
babyoil = Oil derived from babies.
logjam = A tasty spread made from trees.
polevault = A safe place for keeping poles.
fieldday = Annual holiday celebrating prarie grass.
datafile = Coarse tool used to shape data.
horsefly = Aerial migration of horses.
fruitpunch = The act of striking a fruit.
Just leave Spam alone. You don't want to know where it comes from. ...I think it's meat.
LOLOLOL
And what Al Gore did with the $100 he won for inventing the name SPAM, nobody knows!!
Sometimes the truth is absoultely hilarious.
Been there, done that.
Didn't find it particularly funny at the time, but in retrospect....
So do I, could she be a cousin perhaps. Although, I may not like it as thick as she does, but I do like it crispy on the edges.
It was contributed to the McGovern campaign in '72. It takes a loser to know a loser.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.