Definition of spammer

The term "spammer" originated in the late 1990s in reference to the character "Spam" from the Monty Python sketch "The Python Night" that featured canned meat being repeatedly sung by multiple voices in a mantra-like manner. Initially, the word "spam" was used to describe any unwanted or excessive electronic messages sent over a network. As email became more popular, internet users began to receive excessively large numbers of unsolicited, commercial email messages, similar to the incessant chanting of "Spam" in the Python sketch. Early email clients, like Pine and Elm, displayed a message header that resembled a deli menu, with various types of messages listed as "Bacon", "Meatballs", and "Spam". These headers helped users distinguish between different types of messages, including the unwanted commercial messages, which were labeled as "spam". As the number of unwanted email messages increased and became a significant problem for email users, the term "spammer" became more widely used to describe the persons or entities responsible for sending them. In 1998, during a debate about the proliferation of unsolicited commercial email messages on use.perl.org, Eric Allman suggested adding the words "Spiced ham" in a message header to differentiate it from other messages. This proposal was not well-received, but the use of the term "spammer" to describe persons who send excessive unsolicited email messages continued to gain popularity. In summary, the term "spammer" originated as a playful reference to the Monty Python sketch, became popular due to the excessive number of unsolicited commercial email messages being sent, and is now commonly used to describe individuals or entities who engage in the practice of spamming.