Etymology Map
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Spam

3 stages from American English to English.

Today it means unwanted bulk messages sent online; a brand of canned meat

Where does the word "spam" come from? It comes from American English Spam, passing through British English before entering English (1990s).

1
Stage 1 of 3
Spam
American English · 1937
"canned spiced ham"
Hormel Foods of Austin, Minnesota, named its canned pork in 1937 after a naming contest won by actor Ken Daigneau; Lend-Lease shipped it to Britain and the USSR in World War II
2
Stage 2 of 3
Spam
British English · 1970
"something repeated endlessly"
Monty Python's 1970 sketch set in a café where every dish comes with Spam, drowned out by Vikings singing 'Spam, Spam, Spam'
3
Stage 3 of 3
spam
English · 1990s
"unsolicited bulk messages"
online users borrowed the sketch for floods of repeated messages; a 1994 Usenet mass advertisement by the lawyers Canter and Siegel made it notorious
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Read the full story

Spam’s story begins in American English: Spam meant “canned spiced ham.” Hormel Foods of Austin, Minnesota, named its canned pork in 1937 after a naming contest won by actor Ken Daigneau; Lend-Lease shipped it to Britain and the USSR in World War II. By 1970, the word had taken hold in British English as Spam. Monty Python's 1970 sketch set in a café where every dish comes with Spam, drowned out by Vikings singing 'Spam, Spam, Spam'. It reached English by 1990s as spam. Online users borrowed the sketch for floods of repeated messages; a 1994 Usenet mass advertisement by the lawyers Canter and Siegel made it notorious. Today, spam means unwanted bulk messages sent online; a brand of canned meat.