Which TV show inspired computer users to call junk email “spam”?
“The Simpsons”
“Saturday Night Live”
“The Muppet Show”
“Monty Python’s Flying Circus”
The term spam is derived from the 1970 Spam sketch of the BBC television comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The sketch is set in a cafe where nearly every item on the menu includes Spam canned luncheon meat. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drowns out all conversations with a song repeating “Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!”, hence spamming the dialogue over and over again. The Merriam-Webster dictionary attributes this Monty Python sketch as the source of the word, which was first used in 1994 to refer to unsolicited emails sent to a large number of addressees.
Correct Answer: “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”