Acronym-etymologies > SPAM name origin > spam-ku

[Laurence Horn]

It should be noted that the electronic spam is directly borrowed from
the Hormel meat food product by way of a celebrated Monty Python ode
to spam.  No acronym is involved in the electronic version, and any
attempt to reconstruct it as S...P...Advertising Message is an
instance of etymythology in action.

larry



At 5:12 PM -0500 4/1/02, Richard Gage wrote:
>On Monday, 1 Apr 2002 at 14:56, James A. Landau wrote:
>
>
>In a message dated Mon, 1 Apr 2002 2:33:18 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM> writes:
>
>>  Is spam SPAM? In other words, is it merely a reference to its >
>disagreeableness, or is it an acronym (Something-or-other Advertising >
>Message)? > A. Murie
>
>I believe the canned meat is SPiced hAM.
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>[From the "Official Spam" website ]:
>< http://www.spam.com/sp/sp_fq.htm >
>
>Q: Who came up with the name SPAM?
>A: Jay C. Hormel wanted a name as distinctive as the taste, so he held a
>contest. Kenneth Daigneau, an actor and brother of a Hormel vice
>president, pocketed the $100 prize.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>[From a "SPAM FAQs" webpage]:
>< http://www.cusd.claremont.edu/~mrosenbl/spamfaq.html >
>
>7.  The biggie, contender for Ultimate Question: What does SPAM stand for
>
>One of the world's most asked and most incorrectly answered questions.
>The truth is, SPAM doesn't really stand for anything. When SPAM first
>came out, it was marketed as Hormel Spiced Ham (see The SPAM Story
><http://www.cusd.claremont.edu/%7Emrosenbl/spamstory.h%0A%0A%0Atml> ),
>and it soon had many competitors. In order to get the lion's share of
>the market, Hormel decided their Spiced Ham needed a catchier name. A
>prize of $100 was offered for a new, memorable name. The prize was won
>by Kenneth Daigneau, brother of a Hormel executive, when at a New Year's
>Eve party he suggested the name "SPAM". The rest is history. If the
>truth isn't what you hoped for, why not check out some of the theories
><http://www.cusd.claremont.edu/%7Emrosenbl/spamtheory.html> people have
>come up with over the years?
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>See also SPAM HAIKU ARCHIVE
>< http://pemtropics.mit.edu/~jcho/spam/ >
>for various "spam-ku" which offer fanciful alternative theories about
>origin of SPAM name]:
>< http://pemtropics.mit.edu/~jcho/spam/S.P.A.M.html >
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>[And lastly --  for the contemplative -- a spam-ku zen koan]:
>SPAM-Ku # 4558
>
>Perfection uncanned
>Like a beautiful redhead
>Fresh from her trailer