>All this spammer talk made me realize I don't even know what the word >means or where it came from. Is it an acronym or what?
Its originally from a Monty Python skit. They had a skit where a bunch of Vikings chanted "spam spam spam spam" until it was so loud and annoying it drowned out all other conversation. So when junk email started to appear, it reminded people of that skit because the junk email just kept coming, more and more of it, until it drowned out legit email. SPAM (all caps) is a food product made by Hormel Foods. SPAM is actually a trademarked word, and as such Hormel at one point attempted to stop its use to mean junk email. They failed, and they now actually publish guidelines on how to use the word properly. They say that when referring to their meat product, it should be SPAM (all caps) and used in conjunction with some other descriptor to clarify it is their food product (such as "SPAM Luncheon Meat"). When used to mean junk email, it should be spam (all lowercase). Rightfully so, they are worried that in the not to distant future, people will start to wonder why Hormel Foods would name one of their products after junk email. In reality, SPAM Luncheon Meat has been around for a very long time. Long before email, much less junk email, was a thing, SPAM Meat was on the market. I believe it made its debut in the 1930s. And now, because of an otherwise harmless (and funny) Monty Python skit, in probably less then 10 years, the name will have been diluted to the point as to cause confusion. As to the origin of the name of the meat product, I've heard it was a conjunction of Spiced and Ham, because that is what the original SPAM was... SPiced hAM. However, I believe Hormel simply claims they ran a contest for a name, and that was the winning entry. I'm not sure they give much of an explanation for its origins beyond that. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net> ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe send a mail message with a SUBJECT line of "unsubscribe" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
