Why Is It Called 'SPAM'? — The Origin of the Term

The most annoying term in computing — unwanted messages flooding your inbox — comes from a canned meat product and a bunch of Vikings singing in a Monty Python sketch. The journey from Hormel’s canned pork to your email spam folder is one of the strangest etymological stories in tech.

The Story

Let’s start with the meat. In 1937, the Hormel Foods Corporation introduced a canned pork product called “SPAM” — a portmanteau of “spiced ham.” It was cheap, shelf-stable, and became a staple during World War II when fresh meat was scarce. By the 1950s, SPAM was a household name and a cultural punchline — convenient but not exactly gourmet.

In 1970, Monty Python’s Flying Circus aired a sketch that would change the word’s meaning forever. The sketch was set in a cafe called “The Greasy Spoon” where everything on the menu — literally everything — came with SPAM. When a customer asked for something without SPAM, a group of Vikings at a nearby table burst into a song: “Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam — lovely spam, wonderful spam!” The chanting grew louder and louder, drowning out all other conversation in the cafe.

The sketch was a satire of post-war convenience culture and the invasion of cheap processed food. But it perfectly described an experience that would become all too familiar in the digital age: repetitive, unwanted messages overwhelming meaningful communication.

How It Evolved

The first use of “spam” in computing was in the early 1980s, in Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) — text-based online role-playing games. Players who flooded the chat with repetitive text were said to be “spamming.” The term was a direct reference to the Monty Python sketch — these players were the Vikings of the MUD world, drowning out real interaction with their chanting.

The term migrated to Usenet newsgroups in the early 1990s. On March 31, 1993, Usenet administrator Richard Depew accidentally posted the same message to over 200 newsgroups due to a bug in his gateway software. Users called the incident “spamming,” and the modern meaning of spam as “mass unsolicited messages” was born.

The first large-scale commercial spam — often cited as the “first spam email” — was sent on May 3, 1978, by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketer named Gary Thuerk, who sent an unsolicited email to 393 recipients on ARPANET. But at the time, it wasn’t called “spam” — that label came later, after the Usenet incidents.

By the mid-1990s, as email became mainstream, “spam” had fully evolved into its modern meaning: unwanted, unsolicited bulk messages. The Monty Python connection was both obvious and perfect — spam in your inbox was exactly like the Vikings in the cafe: repetitive, intrusive, and drowning out everything else.

Did You Know?

Hormel Foods, the makers of SPAM, initially objected to the term being used for unwanted email. They even threatened legal action. However, when the term became unavoidable, Hormel embraced it — they now sell SPAM-themed merchandise and even host a Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota. The museum proudly displays the Monty Python connection. Hormel’s official position now is that they’re proud to have inspired the term, even if the meaning shifted.

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