:spam: vt.  [from "Monty Python's Flying Circus"] 
   1. To crash a program by overrunning a fixed-size buffer with 
   excessively large input data.  See also {buffer overflow}, {overrun
   screw}, {smash the stack}.  
   2. To cause a newsgroup to be flooded with irrelevant or inappropriate
   messages. You can spam a newsgroup with as little as one well- (or ill-) 
   planned message (e.g. asking "What do you think of abortion?" on 
   soc.women). This is often done with {cross-post}ing (e.g. any message
   which is crossposted to alt.rush-limbaugh and
   alt.politics.homosexuality will almost inevitably spam both
   groups).

   The second definition has become much more prevalent as the
   Internet has opened up to non-techies, and to many Usenetters it is
   probably now (1995) primary.