SPAM!

I return to blogging with 'spam'. In the academic environs of IIMA, spam is ubiquitous. It’s not simply the umpteen mails on the institute email id, or the barrage on the internal messenger ‘Dbabble’- there’s a spamming of gyaan, ideas, gossip, and of course, the mind-boggling sights, sounds and smells on campus. Some despise spam (at least the electronic kind), some live for it, while I like it because it makes the place seem alive. Indeed, the spam in my mailbox and on the google group created for the incoming batch at IIMA makes sure that I don’t miss IIMA while I’m on my internship.

Then there’s spam discussing 'spam'. People on Dbabble justify their spam using principles of logic, and post references and links to videos that substantiate their points. And so it was through one such link that I first watched a Monty Python sketch. (For those who are asking what the hell Monty Python is, please find out- you'll thank me for this). And then, last week, I stumbled upon another meaning of ‘spam’ through another spam message on Dbabble.

Spam: Noun
‘a canned meat made largely from pork’, or
‘a trademark used for a canned meat product consisting primarily of chopped pork pressed into a loaf.’

Now, this ‘spam’ stands for "Shoulder Pork and hAM"/"SPiced hAM". Apparently, my fellow intern’s mum makes spam for him sometimes. Haha! That cracked me up when he told me. On further digging, the link between this ‘spam’ and the friendly neighbourhood Dbabble spam became clear. The link is Monty Python! The term spam, as we now use to refer to repeated unsolicited messages, originated from a Monty Python sketch called ‘Spam’. In the sketch, a restaurant serves all its food with lots of spam (the kind that’s eaten), and the waitress repeats the word several times in describing how much spam is in the items. When she does this, a group of Vikings in the corner start a song:
"Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, lovely spam! Wonderful spam!"
Here’s the video.
Now you know…spam leads to more spam!!!

PS: Here’s a history of how the word spam came to be used as it usually is now.