spam

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See also Spam, and SPAM

Contents

[edit] English

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[edit] 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 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 which finds reference in an email dated March 31, 1993.

The term appears to have been used earlier in a different sense in relation to "Multi-User Dungeons" (MUDs), a kind of multi-user computer gaming environment before widespread use of the Internet, in the 1980s.

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.

[edit] Noun

spam (countable and uncountable; plural spams)

  1. (uncountable, computing, Internet) A collection of unsolicited bulk electronic messages.
    I get far too much spam.
  2. (uncountable, computing, Internet) Any undesired electronic content automatically generated for commercial purposes.
  3. (countable, rare, computing, Internet) An unsolicited electronic message sent in bulk, usually by email or newsgroups.
    I received 58 spams yesterday.
  4. Alternative form of SPAM.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

a collection of unsolicited bulk electronic messages
an unsolicited electronic message sent in bulk
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

[edit] Meronyms

[edit] Verb

spam (third-person singular simple present spams, present participle spamming, simple past and past participle spammed)

  1. (intransitive, computing, Internet) To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages.)
  2. (transitive, computing, Internet) To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages) to a person or entity.
  3. (by extension, video games) To relentlessly attack an enemy with a spell or ability.

[edit] Translations

intransitive
transitive

[edit] See also

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Dutch

[edit] Verb

spam

  1. first-person singular present indicative of spammen.
  2. imperative of spammen.

[edit] French

[edit] Noun

spam m. (plural spams)

  1. spam (meat)
  2. (computing, Internet) spam

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Interlingua

[edit] Noun

spam (plural spams)

  1. (computing, Internet) spam

[edit] Portuguese

[edit] Noun

spam m. (plural spams)

  1. (computing, Internet) spam

[edit] Vietnamese

[edit] Noun

spam

  1. (computing, Internet) spam
Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=spam&oldid=15877703"
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