"spam in a can" meaning in English

{
  "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"
        }
      ],
      "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": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "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": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "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",
        "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": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "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": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "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"
}