Spam didn’t used to have anything to do with enlarging your penis or getting cheap medicines of dubious quality.
It was originally the name of a certain kind of meat, although the ‘dubious quality’ part is well-enshrined in urban legend – known backronyms devised for it include “Something Posing As Meat”, “Stuff, Pork and Ham” and “Spare Parts Animal Meat.” Oddly enough, Spam wasn’t even the original name of the product – it was introduced because the previous name – Hormal Spiced Ham – was losing market share.
It wasn’t until Monty Python and Joel Furr got involved years later that the word assumed its modern meaning.
By the way: according to Hormel’s trademark guidelines, Spam should be spelled with all capital letters and treated as an adjective, as in the phrase “SPAM luncheon meat” – strange but true.
By Judgefloro – Own work, CC0, Link
As mentioned in:
Spam — Save Ferris
Spam — Weird Al Yankovic
Spam Song — Monty Python