Spam

One of Korea’s biggest holidays is Chuseok which is usually in September or early October.  For a few weeks leading up to the holiday, stores are filled with gift sets.  Most gift sets are hygiene products or food.  They are also overpriced.   I remember seeing a gift box of SPAM for the first time.  I can’t remember what it cost, but it was way too much.  It is said that receiving a Spam gift set puts a warm feeling in one’s heart.

Spam is a portmanteau of Spiced + Ham.  It was introduced to Korea during the Korean war.  It became a staple of life in Korea with a Spam factory located here.  While the country was struggling, people had to make do with what was available.  Bundae jjigae is a spicy soup made with Spam.  It is also called army soup because spam was either smuggled out of the army camps or distributed by them.

Spam can also refer to unwanted emails, messages, or postings.  You probably have seen a spam folder that has a lot of advertising in it.  Well, apparently this came from a Monty Python (comedy) skit.  In the skit, the menu starts off normal and then devolves into repetitions of spam.  By the end of the skit, they are basically just saying, “Spam, spam, spam, spam…

Spam can also be used as a verb to describe the act of posting or sending spam messages.  For example, “I am spamming this message board with pictures of cats.  Now, it will be the only thing people will see.”  There are basically two types of spamming.  You can post a lot of messages in one place or post the same message in a lot of different places.  The spam emails that you receive are an example of the same message being sent to a lot of different place while the Monty Python skit is clearly an example of the same message being repeated in one spot.

 

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Reference:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-24140705.
https://mykoreankitchen.com/army-stew-budae-jjigae/
https://www.etymonline.com/word/spam
https://youtu.be/_bW4vEo1F4E

Monty Python skit about Spam

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