# Origin of the word SPAM? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2001, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719 "2001-10-21T18:40:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/1 "2001-10-21T18:40:27Z")
Is it an acronym? ---
**Author:** ![whatmove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecc23a/32.png) [@whatmove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatmove)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/2 "2001-10-21T18:42:08Z")
Salt Pork and hAM ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/3 "2001-10-21T18:47:04Z")
SPiced hAM, actually. The master on the general subject of SPAM: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_229.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_229.html) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/4 "2001-10-21T18:47:33Z")
Well, when The Master interviewed the nice folks at Hormel Foods, regarding [What’s in SPAM?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_229.html), he was told > [@](#): > > The name Spam, dreamed up by the actor brother of a Hormel vice president, is short for “spiced ham.” (Cute story: Said brother supposedly had this brainstorm at a name-the-product party, in which you had to contribute a possible name in order to get a drink. It took a few rounds, so nobody is sure whether the guy was inspired or just drunk.) It should be recognized that Hormel is in Austin, Minnesota, so these are Minnesota spices: sugar and salt. If you want to go crazy and add pepper, don’t blame Hormel. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/5 "2001-10-21T18:49:47Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_229.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_229.html) All of the answers are there. Read it carefully. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/6 "2001-10-21T18:52:10Z")
And don’t forget to visit > **[test](https://www.spam.com/)** > > test 1 brought to you by the friendly people at [http://www.hormel.com/](http://www.hormel.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/7 "2001-10-21T18:55:05Z")
1. Run a can of SPAM through a meat grinder. (If you don’t have a meat grinder, you can use a food processor – just don’t get it too fine.) 2. Mix in Miracle Whip Salad Dressing® and some sweet pickle relish. 3. Chill. 4. Serve on soft white bread. This was one of my dad’s favourite recipes. He’d make up a batch of SPAM salad for when we’d go camping/JetSkiing. People were often dubious when he offered them a sandwich, but they tried it to be nice and were surprised that something made with SPAM could actually taste good. For some reason it doesn’t taste as good when you use wheat bread or mayonaise. I don’t make it often because I tend mot to buy Miracle Whip® or white bread. But ya know? It’s good for a picnic. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/8 "2001-10-21T18:56:26Z")
**tom** Does this make you a “spammer”? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/9 "2001-10-21T19:00:24Z")
Where you asking about Spam ( as in Spam Spam Spam Spam etc ) the meat product or is it about spam the junk mail ? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/10 "2001-10-21T19:04:35Z")
Cecil’s article answers both. Since he asked “is it an acronym or something”, he probably meant the meat product. And would clogging traffic on a bulletin board be “throwing a spammer in the works”? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/11 "2001-10-21T19:33:33Z")
> [@](#): > > And would clogging traffic on a bulletin board be “throwing a spammer in the works”? This question is not only for our time, but _spams_ the ages. A rather meaty question. ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/12 "2001-10-21T19:43:04Z")
SPAM = **S** tuff **P** osing **A** s **M** eat ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/13 "2001-10-22T14:31:40Z")
Stuff Posing As Meat? I heard it is so called (in computer-ese) because it’s just junk in a can. ---
**Author:** ![CzechHistory411](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@CzechHistory411](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CzechHistory411)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/14 "2001-10-22T22:07:32Z")
I had always kind of assumed that the term spam for unwanted e-mail derived from the rather non-infamous [“Spam Jake Day”](http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/www/SubG/spam-jake.html) (May 23, 1994), the day on which Discordians, Subgenii and their ilk were supposed to have bombarded Hormel headquarters with letters claiming that each of their religions was the true “Church of Spam”. Granted, that seems like an obscure origin, but if you consider that Internet culture and Discordian culture probably intersected quite a bit more in the days before the AOL blitz, it seems like a reasonable enough explanation. –CH ---
**Author:** ![dwtno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@dwtno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwtno)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-spam/88719/15 "2001-10-22T23:15:58Z")
We were using the term ‘Spam’ on the Usenet well before May 23, 1994. I’m comfortable with the Python origin. I recall making this association the first time I came across the term circa 1992/93.