Why is Spam called Spam?

I was intrigued when a colleague went up to me and asked “Why the hell do they call e-mail spam, “spam”?. Tough one, eh?

So I did a little bit of Google magic and came up with the logical answer.

You might all know that Spam is the popular luncheon meat. A derivative of SPiced hAM, hence the name. But the origins of our most hated inbox invader doesn’t end there. Even before the first recorded spam mail hit the usenet and the early internet in 1978, the meaning of the word “spam” and its relevance to actual “spamming” (incessant repetitions) may have been coined via a silly skit by Monty Phyton’s Flying Circus.

In the sketch, a restaurant serves all its food with lots of spam, and the waitress repeats the word several times in describing how much spam is in the items. When she does this, a group of Vikings (don’t ask) in the corner start a song:

“Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, lovely spam! Wonderful spam!”

Until told to shut up.

Weird but true

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