"spam in a can" meaning in English

See spam in a can in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Etymology: In reference to the tinned meat product called SPAM. Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} spam in a can (uncountable)
  1. (slang, derogatory) Astronauts whose mission involves confinement in a small space capsule. Tags: derogatory, slang, uncountable
    Sense id: en-spam_in_a_can-en-noun-cvaCHV~E Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "etymology_text": "In reference to the tinned meat product called SPAM.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "spam in a can (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1998, Jodi Dean, Aliens in America, page 78:",
          "text": "The lab rat, experimental object, “Spam in a can” idea wasn't NASA's vision of the astronaut, but this unpleasant dimension of astronaut life did seep into spaces with a claim to public attention.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, G. Scott Thomas, A New World to be Won, page 26:",
          "text": "Many of the 324 candidates […] were convinced that astronauts were going to be “spam in a can,” mere passengers in a capsule controlled by NASA technicians on the ground.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Astronauts whose mission involves confinement in a small space capsule."
      ],
      "id": "en-spam_in_a_can-en-noun-cvaCHV~E",
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "Astronauts",
          "astronaut"
        ],
        [
          "mission",
          "mission"
        ],
        [
          "confinement",
          "confinement"
        ],
        [
          "space capsule",
          "space capsule"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, derogatory) Astronauts whose mission involves confinement in a small space capsule."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "slang",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spam in a can"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "In reference to the tinned meat product called SPAM.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "spam in a can (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English derogatory terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1998, Jodi Dean, Aliens in America, page 78:",
          "text": "The lab rat, experimental object, “Spam in a can” idea wasn't NASA's vision of the astronaut, but this unpleasant dimension of astronaut life did seep into spaces with a claim to public attention.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, G. Scott Thomas, A New World to be Won, page 26:",
          "text": "Many of the 324 candidates […] were convinced that astronauts were going to be “spam in a can,” mere passengers in a capsule controlled by NASA technicians on the ground.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Astronauts whose mission involves confinement in a small space capsule."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "Astronauts",
          "astronaut"
        ],
        [
          "mission",
          "mission"
        ],
        [
          "confinement",
          "confinement"
        ],
        [
          "space capsule",
          "space capsule"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, derogatory) Astronauts whose mission involves confinement in a small space capsule."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "slang",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spam in a can"
}

Download raw JSONL data for spam in a can meaning in English (1.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.