'spam' originates from the brand name 'SPAM', a type of canned meat product, which was humorously used in a Monty Python sketch to describe something repetitive and unwanted.

'SPAM' was used in a Monty Python sketch in the 1970s, leading to its association with repetitive and unwanted content, eventually becoming the modern term 'spam' for unsolicited messages.

Initially, it referred to a brand of canned meat, but over time it evolved into its current meaning of 'unsolicited electronic messages'.