1.0Glossaryhttps://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/glossaryGlossaryhttps://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/glossary/author/adminglossary/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="APQ3GW1kh9"><a href="https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/glossary/spam/">Spam</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/glossary/spam/embed/#?secret=APQ3GW1kh9" width="600" height="338" title="“Spam” — Glossary" data-secret="APQ3GW1kh9" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/glossary/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js </script> Despite the success of Wrigley's, a gum whose brand name makes me think of worms in a rain storm, most marketing experts concur that a product cannot succeed with a bad name. A good name should be short and evocative, and should contain strong, explosive sounds like b and p. Spam has all these qualities: it is certainly short, it contains a p, and it evokes—perhaps unconsciously—its origin as an abbreviation of spiced ham. Spam began as a brand name in 1937, but by the 1940s it had also become attached to other items intended for a mass market: spam medal, for instance, became slang for a medal given indiscriminately to all members of a military unit. More recently, spam has become a cyberspace verb: if an unscrupulous business flouts Internet etiquette by indiscriminately posting unsolicited advertisements to hundreds of newsgroups, it has engaged in "spamming."