Date:  Tue, 12 Sep 1995 09:28:14 -0700

From:  David Harnick-Shapiro <david[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]BUCKAROO.ICS.UCI.EDU>

Subject: Re: Internet Term Stumper (fwd)



On Mon, 11 Sep 1995 22:34, Daniel S Goodman forwarded:



> I hope I don't get spammed for this, but does anyone know how the

> term 'spamming' got coined for mass e-mailing?

>

> I checked the Internet books that are available in my library, but

> spamming is not mentioned.



THE source for computer-related slang is the "Jargon file"; while

not the work of trained lexicologists, at least native speakers tend

to agree with its pronouncements. And it says:



    spam vt. [from "Monty Python's Flying Circus"] 1. To crash a

    program by overrunning a fixed-size buffer with excessively

    large input data. See also buffer overflow, overrun screw, smash

    the stack. 2. To cause a newsgroup to be flooded with

    irrelevant or inappropriate messages. You can spam a newsgroup

    with as little as one well- (or ill-) planned message (e.g.

    asking "What do you think of abortion?" on soc.women). This is

    often done with cross-posting (e.g. any message which is

    crossposted to alt.rush-limbaugh and alt.politics.homosexuality

    will almost inevitably spam both groups).



    The second definition has become much more prevalent as the

    Internet has opened up to non-techies, and to many Usenetters it

    is probably now (1995) primary. .



(I happened to look at the copy at

http://www.fwi.uva.nl/~mes/jargon/s/spam.html; as far as I am aware, the

original is somewhere at MIT. Now here's quality scholarship for you! :-)



I actually first heard the term used to describe intentionally flooding

someone's mailbox with nuisance email (a sense which is clearly related

to those given above). Further, it was clear that this sense always

implied the activity was done as a form of vigilante justice.



Oh, and if the etymology is a little unclear to non-Python fans: there

is a skit in one of the Monty Python episodes where a couple in a

restaurant, attempting to discuss their order, are repeatedly interrupted

and overwhelmed by a chorus of Vikings singing "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam!

Wonderful Spam, Lovely Spam!...".



--------

     David Harnick-Shapiro  Information and Computer Science

       david[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ics.uci.edu  University of California, Irvine