Can Anyone Remember What Words Originally Created the "SPAM" Acronym?

[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.

[SierraWasp]

I still have questions about the FReeper usage of "cheese" and other mysterious lexicon, if anyone cares to illucidate.

[Lorenb420]

SPAM == "Shoulder Pork and hAM" or "SPiced hAM"

Origin of the term "spam" to mean net abuse

[Arkinsaw]

SPAM is not really an acronym. It comes from a Monty Python skit where they all sing SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM...over and over and over again.

Cheese - allegedly comes from "would you like some cheese with that whine".

Moose - Animal that may bite your female relatives.

Shower - Someone posted a terrorist alert and asked to be updated because they were in the shower, or something like that.

Are you logged in - Somebody posted the question "How do I log in?". Of course you must be logged in to post in the first place.....

Host around the sun - forget it, don't ask

I am probably wrong on most of these.

[ArcLight]

Spam, as a description of unwanted e-mail, is not an acronym. The term was inspired by the Monty Python comedy troupe, which did a bizarre, hilarious sketch about a restaurant where every dish contains the canned meat Spam. For some reason, a band of Vikings is sitting in this modern-day restaurant, and at odd moments they begin to sing, "Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam!"

Now why someone thought of this when coining a nickname for junk e=mail, I don't know. Probably something to do with the idea that there's no getting away from it, and it's constantly being foisted on you by guys wearing horned helmets. Either way, the nickname stuck. People who've never seen the Monty Python routine now use the word while cursing their overstuffed e-mail boxes.

[MarkL]

I'm not sure about the canned meat, but the term for the neverending flow of unwanted email came from the Monty Python "Spam" sketch... At a restaurant, a man asks, "what's on the breakfast menu," and is answered with (paraphrased) "Spam and Eggs... Spam, bacon, eggs, and spam... Spam, Spam, eggs, and Spam... Spam, Spam, Spam, and Spam..." at which vikings begin singing the "Spam Song!"

Mark

[Tokhtamish]

Of course it is.

There is a Monty Python sketch about someone going into a restaurant to order breakfast. No matter what he orders, part of the order is "Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam...". He argues that he doesn't like Spam. The waitress tries to placate him by offering him "Spam, spam, and spam. That's only got a little Spam in it."

Early geek culture revolved around things like Monty Python, Star Trek, and Lord of the Rings. Spam became a metaphor for getting a lot of something you don't want and never asked for.

[dionyza]

Spam- short for "Spiced Ham"

And the unwanted email which you find in your Inbox on occasion is related to the product, "Spam", immortalized in the Monty Python skit, in which the featured diner features Spam as a primary ingredient.

[PJ-Comix]

An interesting SPAM (food) fact. The state with the highest per capita consumption of Spam is Hawaii. And it isn't just a slight blip. Apparently they LOVE that stuff out there and cook it all sorts of ways. Why, I can't figure out.

[Constitution Day]

I am probably wrong on most of these.

Are you SERIES?

8^)

[Tribune7]

The term got really popular in April of 1994, when two lawyers from Phoenix named Canter and Siegel posted a message advertising their fairly useless services in an upcoming U.S. "green card" lottery. They had posted their message a few times before, but on April 12, they hired an mercenary programmer to write a simple script to post their ad to every single newsgroup (message board) on USENET, the world's largest online conferencing system. There were several thousand such newsgroups, and each one got the ad.

Say what you want, it's a legacy.

[Brett66]

[Dan Day]

The most common explanation for the original Hormel name "Spam" is that it's a contraction of "Spiced Ham", although there is some dispute about whether this explanation comes straight from "the source" or not. (Spam is made from a combination of ham and pork shoulder.)

In any case, it's clear the name was purposely a rhyme of "ham" in order to be more appealing, whether or not the "SP" part of the name means anything.

As for the "internet spam", that comes from the Monty Python skit where a man goes into a restaurant and finds that every damned item on the menu has (Hormel's) Spam in it. While reading the menu, the word "Spam" comes up pretty much every other word -- much like wading through your incoming email and finding the unsolicited mail outnumbering the "real" mail. Also in the skit the patrons keep singing a song that goes, "Spam, Spam, Spam... Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam...", which also mimics the feel of an unending stream of unsolicited email arriving in your inbox.

[Constitution Day]

Apparently they LOVE that stuff out there and cook it all sorts of ways. Why, I can't figure out.

I found that out via the History Channel quite a while back.
I believe they said that it became popular there during World War II when the American military presence was very high.
Apparently the Spam presence was a little more popular?

CD

[TC Rider]

An interesting SPAM (food) fact. The state with the highest per capita consumption of Spam is Hawaii. And it isn't just a slight blip. Apparently they LOVE that stuff out there and cook it all sorts of ways. Why, I can't figure out.

Now explain my wife. She has always loved Spam and is not even Hawaiian. Her fav is to slice it thick and fry it in a pan.

I can't stand the stuff. I always found the gelatin oozing out when opening it up to be a turn off.

It seems my Dad had a good bit forced on him while in the Navy. He still can't stand it or mutton. (The mutton was the result of being stuck in NZ for a long time in WWII)

[Revolting cat!]

SPAM is considered a delicacy in South Korea, sorta like caviar in this country. No, sorta like Big Mac in this country!

[IronJack]

Spiced Ham.

[blam]

In the latter days of WW2, the Soviet army survived on SPAM. (A gift from us, of course)

[tubebender]

Apparently they LOVE that stuff out there and cook it all sorts of ways. Why, I can't figure out. Hey...it got me through Y2K with some lots left over.

[tophat9000]

Simple Protocol for (Annoying/Advertising) Message

[MHGinTN]

Specially Processed hAM