Meaning
What does Steamed Hams mean?
Steamed hams is the phrase that is used to refer to one memorable dialogue from the popular American TV cartoon show The Simpsons.
The dialogue happens between Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers, and includes hamburgers, that Skinner calls steamed hams during the skit.
The phrase grew to be a common reference point among fans, also inspiring a lot of them to utilize it in forms of spamming on online forums.
Origin
What's the origin of Steamed Hams?
The episode (S7E21) aired in the US in 1996, and was titled 22 Short Films About Springfield. It consisted of 22 individual stories, one of which was involving Skinner and Superintendent.
The skit makes fun of a sit-com setting, in which Skinner burns his dinner and buys fast food instead, because he doesn’t want to fail as a host in front of his boss, Superintendent Chalmers.
When asked about the foul smell, Skinner tells Chalmers that it’s steamed clam, but then when he serves hamburgers he claims that he said steamed hams.
Spread & Usage
How did Steamed Hams spread?
In 2007 an Urban Dictionary article was uploaded about steamed hams to the site.
In 2009 a Facebook group was created that praised the meme.
Various YouTube parodies and remixes were created, as well as re-contextualizations among the Simpsons fandom.
External resources
- Fandom – Simpsons Wiki
- Hollywoodreporter.com – “Steamed Hams” at 25: ‘Simpsons’ Cast and Crew Attempt to Decipher Classic Moment’s Extraordinary Cult Following
- Mashable.com – How steamed hams from ‘The Simpsons’ became the world’s greatest meme