# Spam Spam is internet slang for unsolicited bulk messages, borrowed by early 1990s Usenet posters from a Monty Python sketch where a cafe menu is overrun with the canned meat[3]. The label stuck as junk email began flooding ARPANET inboxes, becoming one of the oldest pieces of online vocabulary still used daily. ## Origin The earliest documented bulk online message came from Gary Thuerk, a DEC marketing rep, who on May 3, 1978 tried to blast an ARPANET announcement about the new DEC-20 machine to every address on the West Coast[1]. Recipient Einar Stefferud later explained that the sender was untrained in SNDMSG, so addresses overflowed the To, CC and Subject fields into the body, and many intended recipients never even got the pitch[1]. Users still complained loudly, and DEC was formally reminded of ARPANET's appropriate use policy[1]. The word 'spam' itself came later. Usenet and IRC users in the early 1990s started shouting 'spam spam spam' at unwelcome posters as a direct nod to the Python skit, and the label stuck to any bulk unsolicited posting[3]. - **Platform:** ARPANET (early bulk mail) / Usenet and IRC (term coinage) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 1993 ## Overview The word doubles as a noun for unwanted mail and a verb for sending it in bulk. In the Python bit, a waitress reads off dish after dish containing spam while a chorus of Vikings shouts the word until real conversation is impossible. Netizens on early IRC channels and Usenet groups picked up that image to describe posts swamping threads with repeated garbage. Over time the label widened to cover any high-volume digital nuisance, from bulk pitches promising to enlarge male anatomy to bot-driven forum floods[4]. Automated spambots do most of the sending today, which is why volume can spike overnight. On image boards, spam is used deliberately as a raid weapon, and 'sagebomb' floods bury target threads by keeping them from being bumped[3]. ## How to Use Spam works as a noun ('my inbox is full of spam') and a verb ('stop spamming the channel'). Common conventions include tagging any repeated, off-topic, or bulk-commercial posting as spam, whether it comes from a bot or a human trying to drown out other voices. On forums and image boards, users often call for mods when a thread is being spammed with sage posts, promotional links, or copy-paste floods. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Spam? Spam is unsolicited bulk online messaging, most often junk email but also bot-driven forum posts and other high-volume nuisance content[4]. ### Where did Spam come from? The earliest known mass online message is Gary Thuerk's 1978 DEC ARPANET blast, and the label 'spam' was later attached by early 1990s Usenet users borrowing from a Monty Python sketch[1]. ### What does Spam mean? It means any high-volume unwanted digital messaging, whether commercial email, bot posts, or forum floods used as a raid weapon[2]. ### How do you use Spam? It works as both a noun for the messages themselves and a verb for sending them, as in 'stop spamming' or 'this account got hit with spam'[4]. ### Is Spam still popular? Yes, the word is still standard net vocabulary decades after Thuerk's 1978 blast, and its history is still archived and revisited on sites like Templeton's[1]. ## References 1. [https://www.templetons.com/brad/spamreact.html]() 2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f9oJikx0-I]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/spam]() 4. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Spam]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/spam Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library