wikipedia
see|SPAM
English

Etymology
The original sense (canned ham) is a proprietary name registered by Geo. A. Hormel & Co. in U.S., 1937. It is presumed to be a conflation of spiced ham but was soon extended to other kinds of canned meat.

The use for unsolicited and unwanted email derives from a w:Monty Python|Monty Python sketch (Flying Circus, Episode 25). In the 1970 sketch, a restaurant's menu has many items with spam, and it includes Vikings who would not stop singing the word. See Spam. The earliest recorded real-life use for this sense occurs around 1993 (e.g. see [this link:¹ which finds reference in an email - at ² - dated March 31 1993)

The term appears to have been used earlier in a different sense in relation to "Multi-User Dungeons" (MUDs), a form of multi-user computer environnment before widespread use of the Internet, in the 1980's. See ³ for details.

As of late, the term spam has begun to take on a new meaning and has entered the American lexicon, with it being used to denote not only electronic, but also other variations of advertisements seen as being annoying or inappropriate.

Noun
en-noun|s|-

1. (uncountable noun) slang, term used in a negative sense designating an "unwanted, annoying, or inappropriate advertisement, or promotion."

#: Could you please stop sending me these college spam magazines?

1. (uncountable noun) A collection of unsolicited bulk electronic messages.

#: I get far too much spam.

1. (countable noun) An unsolicited electronic message sent in bulk, e.g. by email or newsgroups.

#: I received 58 spams yesterday.

1. (proper noun) A canned meat product made of pork and ham, first produced by Hormel Foods in 1937 in (see SPAM).

Derived terms
spammy
spamvertising
spamundated

Translations
a collection of unsolicited bulk electronic messages:

Dutch: #Dutch|spam m, ongewenste elektronische post m
Finnish: roskaposti, spämmi
French: #French|spam m, pourriel m
German: Spam m, unerwünschte elektronische Post
Hebrew: ���ר ��� (do'ar zevel) m, ספ�� (spam) m
Icelandic: ruslpóstur m
mid
Interlingua: #Interlingua|spam
Italian: #Italian|spam m
Portuguese: #Portuguese|spam m
Russian: �пам (spam) m
Swedish: #Swedish|spam

an unsolicited electronic message sent in bulk:

Dutch: #Dutch|spam, ongewenste mail m (2)
Finnish: roskaposti, spämmi
French: #French|spam m, pourriel m
German: Spam m/n
mid
Interlingua: #Interlingua|spam
Portuguese: #Portuguese|spam m
Swedish: #Swedish|spam n

Translations to be checked
checktrans
ttbc|Turkish: istenmeyen yı�ın ileti (or İYİ for short in computing), çöp ileti, sürü ileti

Verb
en-verb|spam|m|ing

1. intransitive: To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages.)
2. transitive: To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages) to a person or entity.

Translations
trans-top|intransitive
Finnish: roskapostittaa, spämmätä
German: spammen
Interlingua: spammar
trans-mid
Portuguese: spamear or espamear (?)
Russian: �пами�� (spámit�)
Swedish: spamma
trans-bottom

trans-top|transitive
Finnish: roskapostittaa, spämmätä
trans-mid
Russian: �пами�� (spámit�)
trans-bottom

See also
w:Spamming|Wikipedia article on spamming
Official SPAM® home page

Category:Meats

French

Noun
spam m

1. spam (in computing)

Interlingua

Noun
spam

1. spam (in computing)

Portuguese

Noun
spam m

1. spam (in computing)

Vietnamese

Noun
spam m

1. spam (in computing)

es:spam
fr:spam
it:spam
hu:spam
ja:spam
ru:spam
fi:spam
sv:spam
ta:spam
vi:spam
vo:spam

• 2007-12-13 13:11 - Tohru - Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/62.100.22.222|62.100.22.222]] ([[User_talk:62.100.22.222|Talk]]); changed back to last version by [[User:SemperBlotto|SemperBlotto]]

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