Java & J2ee Important Interview Q & A

L

Lew

Andrew said:
Stop multi-posting this SPAM.

Andrew T.

Technically, "SPAM" in all upper-case letters is Hormel's trademark for canned
meat, to be used as an adjective. Please do not slam SPAM.

"Spam" in mixed- or lower-case letters is a popular term for a batch of
messages sent in great quantity by a single sender via email or Usenet,
usually for commercial purposes, and connotatively constituting an annoying
campaign for items or services of questionable or negative value.

Like what Suveetha sent. Do you think Suveetha bothers to read the responses
to their messages?

- Lew
 
A

Andrew Thompson

Lew said:
.....
Technically, "SPAM" in all upper-case letters is Hormel's trademark for canned
meat, to be used as an adjective. Please do not slam SPAM.

"Spam" in mixed- or lower-case letters is a popular term for a batch of
messages sent in great quantity by a single sender via email or Usenet,
usually for commercial purposes, and connotatively constituting an annoying
campaign for items or services of questionable or negative value.

SPAM is the only thing that makes me SHOUT.
Like what Suveetha sent. Do you think Suveetha bothers to read the responses
to their messages?

My replies are framed to a wider audience than the OP.

(and, your other reply was *way* funnier..)

Andrew T.
 
O

Oliver Wong

Did you mean "noun", or did you really mean adjective? I thought the
foodstuff was actually called "SPAM" -- that is, "SPAM" is the proper noun
referring to that food.

- Oliver
 
L

Lew

Oliver said:
Did you mean "noun", or did you really mean adjective?

I really meant "adjective". Then I intentionally used the word as a noun anyway.
> I thought the
foodstuff was actually called "SPAM" -- that is, "SPAM" is the proper noun
referring to that food.

Actually, I don't know what the law is. You are certainly correct when it
comes to popular usage.

When I read a company's legalese about a trademark it's always said that the
trademark should be used as an adjective to describe their product, as in
"SPAM (r) lunch meat" or "Java (r) programming language". Perhaps it is a
nicety of some trademark law that allows trademarks legal status only as
adjectives.

The English language is infamous for noun phrases, where the first noun (e.g.,
"noun") functions as an adjective modifying the second noun (e.g., "phrases").
Conversely it also permits a lone adjective to stand in for an anonymous noun
("The meek shall inherit"). And popular speech rarely concerns itself with
trademark law.

- Lew
 
J

John W. Kennedy

Lew said:
When I read a company's legalese about a trademark it's always said that
the trademark should be used as an adjective to describe their product,
as in "SPAM (r) lunch meat" or "Java (r) programming language". Perhaps
it is a nicety of some trademark law that allows trademarks legal status
only as adjectives.

Not precisely. But having it used that way on a regular basis allows
Hormel's lawyers to argue, "See! 'SPAM' isn't the only name this class
of product has; it's got a perfectly good generic name: 'lunch meat';
therefore, 'SPAM' is a pure Hormel trademark."
 

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