#57689
02/19/2002 11:21 AM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
A thread has appeared recently using the term spam in a sense that is new to me. I'm just an apprentice geezer so maybe this is a new sense, but I took it as just a misuse of the term and what was really meant was flame. Am I wrong? Anybody have any comments?
|
|
|
#57690
02/19/2002 1:14 PM
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Slammin' spammer Weren't no hammer, Weren't no E-ads-- Flamin' stammer! 
|
|
|
#57691
02/19/2002 1:49 PM
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
Spam® has only one meaning. To send or receive junk email. I can spam you or I can have been spammed.
I think the thread you refer to has a mis-used term alright.
|
|
|
#57692
02/19/2002 2:15 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
Spam® has only one meaning. To send or receive junk email.Do the folks who make the lunchmeat of the same name know this yet? Boy, are they in big trouble! 
|
|
|
#57693
02/19/2002 2:21 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
the lunchmeat of the same name
I've often wondered about the connection. The closest I can come to a WAG is the massive amounts of the lunchmeat [sic] we sent to Britain in WWII, but that seems to have been happily received. Any ideas, gang?
|
|
|
#57694
02/19/2002 2:35 PM
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
The verb to spam was coined by an anonymous computer user who was also a Monty Python fan.
He took the title of one of their more popular songs to describe the annoying method of junk emailing (the song is pretty annoying too!) and it stuck.
Computer terms get coined that way a lot.
|
|
|
#57695
02/19/2002 2:39 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
WWII ... (Spam) ...seems to have been happily received. Any ideas, gang? Yes, it _was_ received happily - mainly, I think, because it had as competitors snoek and whalemeat. When the war ended, we gradually were able to get "butchers meat" (i.e., fresh meat - or fairly fresh, anyway  ) and Spam, in those days when few households had refrigerators over here, was seen as greasy and unappetising. Personally, I never actually disliked it, but will readily admit that it came fairly way down on my lsit of preferred meats!
|
|
|
#57696
02/19/2002 3:07 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
Yep, I go with you, Faldage - there was a complete confusion going on in someone's mind [sic] about being spammed and about being flamed. Perhaps he needs more of it to show up the subtle difference, what d'ja think? [notwink]
|
|
|
#57697
02/19/2002 3:41 PM
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
I think flame implies more of an evil intent, where spam is just a large quantity of annoyance.
|
|
|
#57698
02/19/2002 4:11 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
intent versus annoyance
Interesting point, JazzO. So, if someone were to fill up page after page in a chat room with large pink letters saying I WUV U JAZZO it would be spam, but if that same person started uttering specific threats it would be flaming? If the former were instead, large red letters saying I HATE U JAZZO it would be borderline?
|
|
|
#57699
02/19/2002 4:56 PM
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
|
|
|
#57700
02/19/2002 5:33 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
Of course, granted the distinction between spamming (quantity) and flaming ("quality"), it is quite possible to have both at once; "flaming spam", as it were.
As recognized by the title of this very thread.
|
|
|
#57701
02/19/2002 6:08 PM
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
The twelve commandments of flaming
1.Make things up about your opponent: It's important to make your lies
sound true. Preface your argument with the word "clearly." "Clearly,
Fred Flooney is a liar, and a dirtball to boot."
2.Be an armchair psychologist: You're a smart person. You've heard of
Freud. You took a psychology course in college. Clearly, you're
qualified to psychoanalyze your opponent. "Polly Purebread, by using
the word 'zucchini' in her posting, shows she has a bad case of penis
envy."
3.Cross-post your flames: Everyone on the net is just waiting for the
next literary masterpiece to leave your terminal. From
rec.arts.wobegon to alt.gourmand, they're all holding their breaths until
your next flame. Therefore, post everywhere.
4.Conspiracies abound: If everyone's against you, the reason can't
possibly be that you're a [dick]head. There's obviously a conspiracy
against you, and you will be doing the entire net a favor by exposing it.
5.Lawsuit threats: This is the reverse of Rule #4 (sort of like the Yin &
Yang of flaming). Threatening a lawsuit is always considered to be in
good form. "By saying that I've posted to the wrong group, Bertha has
libeled me, slandered me, and sodomized me. See you in court,
Bertha."
6.Force them to document their claims: Even if Harry Hoinkus states
outright that he likes tomato sauce on his pasta, you should demand
documentation. If Newsweek hasn't written an article on Harry's pasta
preferences, then Harry's obviously lying.
7.Use foreign phrases: French is good, but Latin is the lingua franca of
flaming. You should use the words "ad hominem" at least three times
per article. Other favorite Latin phrases are "ad nauseum," "vini, vidi,
vici," and "fetuccini alfredo."
8.Tell 'em how smart you are: Why use intelligent arguments to convince
them you're smart when all you have to do is tell them? State that
you're a member of Mensa or Mega or Dorks of America. Tell them
the scores you received on every exam since high school. "I got an
800 on my SATs, LSATs, GREs, MCATs, and I can also spell the
word 'premeiotic' ."
9.Accuse your opponent of censorship. It is your right as an American
citizen to post whatever the hell you want to the net (as guaranteed by
the 37th Amendment, I think). Anyone who tries to limit your
cross-posting or move a flame war to email is either a communist, a
fascist, or both.
10.Doubt their existence: You've never actually seen your opponent, have
you? And since you're the center of the universe, you should have
seen them by now, shouldn't you? Therefore, THEY DON'T EXIST!
This is the beauty of flamers' logic.
11.Lie, cheat, steal, leave the toilet seat up.
12.When in doubt, insult: If you forget the other 11 rules, remember this
one. At some point during your wonderful career as a flamer you will
undoubtedly end up in a flame war with someone who is better than
you. This person will expose your lies, tear apart your arguments,
make you look generally like a bozo. At this point, there's only one
thing to do: insult the dirtbag!!! "Oh yeah? Well, your mother does
strange things with vegetables."
it wasn't hard to find and steal this. there is almost as much ranting about flaming as there is flaming itself out there.
a fairy tale: once upon a time there was a BBS where flaming just didn't happen. then one day someone took offense at an innocent remark....
|
|
|
#57702
02/19/2002 6:25 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
then one day someone took offense at an innocent remark....
hey!! that's not how you spell offence, an I should no cause I'm a member of MENTAL... wassat carrot for, anyways?
|
|
|
#57703
02/19/2002 6:31 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
ROTFL, tsuwm!
"Oh yeah? Well, your mother does strange things with vegetables."
confession: It would be an understatment to say that my mother [may she rest in peace] was not overly blessed with culinary talent. Her meatloaf could shingle a roof, her pies could be poured onto you plate. And the strange things she did to vegetables would make a grown man weep ...
|
|
|
#57704
02/19/2002 6:38 PM
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
My GOD!
You're, you're, you're my long lost evil twin Skippy!
Separated at birth by a cookbook that dropped between us. And one of us ate it, leaving mom to her own devices.
TEd
|
|
|
#57705
02/19/2002 6:45 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
Ted, the worst of it is that her grandfather had been a professional baker, so good that two of his recipes appear even today in Joy of Cooking. (Apparently the skill is not inheritable.) Now if great-grandpa had only had the good sense to follow his business-partner's judgment ... But that's another story, to await the appropriate "food" thread. [Hint, Helen ]
|
|
|
#57706
02/19/2002 7:08 PM
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
okay, the 12 commandments were kind of fun; now here are the true Rules for Flame Wars. these weren't meant to generate guffaws. http://www.alsirat.com/flame.htmljoe ("I've upped my standards, now up yours!") friday
|
|
|
#57707
02/19/2002 7:23 PM
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
tsuwm, I'd seen that before and was trying to find it again [notguffaw]. thanks, oh King of Knowledge (as my retired-librarian-and-teacher mom would tell me to convince me it was good to become familiar with the DDSystem, "if I don't know what it is, at least I know where to look it up!"). Good on you and your standards.
|
|
|
#57708
02/19/2002 10:50 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 477
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 477 |
The verb to spam was coined by an anonymous computer user who was also a Monty Python fan.
To see the connection, here's a link to the script of the SPAM skit:
http://www.detritus.org/spam/skit.html
Now, Monty Python - there's a topic I'm only too happy to discuss. They used words didn't they? 
Hev
|
|
|
#57709
02/19/2002 10:58 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 477
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 477 |
The twelve commandments of flaming
You forgot this one (it's a bakers dozen):
13. Thou shalt read the posts of other members discussing flaming activities, and self-righteously assume(!) that they are intended for "everyone else".
Going back to read your 12 and make sure they aren't for me. 
Hev
|
|
|
#57710
02/19/2002 11:05 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
They used words didn't they?
Yup, and remarkable well and cleverly if you ask me. The Monthy Pithon show was a 'never miss' in our household when I was young.
They do have a particular brand of humour though so not all of my anglophone friends understood it. As to my francophone friends who understood English - woosh, waaaay out in left field for them.
|
|
|
#57711
02/20/2002 12:27 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
Indeed, spam and flame had been confused. Related terms include "troll" (a person who posts flames in order to instigate a flamefest) and "sock puppet" (an alternate identity of an established poster, often used to perpetuate a flamefest by posing in agreement with the original identity). More: http://www.spamfaq.net/terminology.txthttp://www.rahul.net/falk/glossary.html
|
|
|
#57712
02/21/2002 1:33 AM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
I thought that calling junkmail Spam was quite appropriate as I do the same thing to both: open it up, take a peak inside and throw it away!
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,917
Posts230,540
Members9,211
| |
Most Online17,319
Apr 8th, 2026
|
|
|
|
