Spam Mail Got Its Name from Monty Python

If you’ve ever wondered why we call unsolicited email “spam,” just ask a Monty Python fan. The term was inspired by a skit from the British comedy group that featured Vikings loudly (and annoyingly, though hilariously) singing “spam, spam, spam” in an effort to drown out others who were trying to talk.

According to Wired, applying the analogy to modern-day spam works because “unsolicited email is seen as drowning out normal discourse on the internet.” Even Merriam-Websterdictionary credits Monty Python with the term, explaining that spam comes “from a skit on the British television series Monty Python’s Flying Circus in which chanting of the word ‘spam’ overrides the other dialogue.”