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Reverted edits by Imperial25 (Talk) to last version by MattS
[[Image:Spam.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A tin of Spam]]
In its original meaning '''SPAM''' (all uppercase) is the proprietary name for a type of processed, canned pink luncheon meat from Hormel, primarly made from pork. The name is a contraction of "SPiced hAM". It was very popular in England during World War II, when fresh meat was in short supply. <ref>[http://www.spam.com Official SPAM Website]</ref> Most Americans intuitively, viscerally associate "SPAM" with "no nutritive or aesthetic value," though it is still relatively popular (especially in Hawaii) and can be found in almost any grocery store. SPAM has its own newsgroup, alt.spam.
However, '''spam''' has now acquired a completely different meaning, as electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup postings. There is some debate about the source of the term, but the generally accepted version is that in the days of internet bulletin boards, unscrupulous users would create post after post of "SPAM SPAM" etc in order to push other people's topics off the bottom of the board before posting their own unsolicited advertising message. The term "SPAM" was used due to the popularity of a particular episode of [[Monty Python|Monty Python's Flying Circus]], set in a café, which served dishes such as "Egg, spam, chips, spam, beans and spam", and which ended with a song which went: "Spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam…" Like the song, spam is an endless repetition of worthless text.
<ref>[http://www.cybernothing.org/faqs/net-abuse-faq.html#2.1 The Net Abuse FAQ. 2.1) What is Spam?]</ref>
Another school of thought maintains that it comes from the computer group lab at the University of Southern California who gave it the name because it has many of the same characteristics as the luncheon meat Spam:<ref>[http://spam.abuse.net/overview/whatisspam.shtml What is spam?]</ref>
* Nobody wants it or ever asks for it.
* No one ever eats it; it is the first item to be pushed to the side when eating the entree.
* Sometimes it is actually tasty, like 1% of junk mail that is really useful to some people.
In video games, '''spamming''' refers to repeatedly using one technique or move.
Hormel Foods have expressed that they are not fussed about the usage of the term "spam" to denote unsolicited bulk email, provided that the distinction is made between the uppercase and lowercase forms of the word<ref>[http://www.spam.com/about/internet.aspx SPAM brand and the internet]</ref>.
==References==
<references/>
[[category:food and Drink]]
[[category:internet culture]]