Spam is unwanted mass messages, usually ads sent by email or in messaging apps. There's a verb too: spam someone means to flood them with messages: he keeps spamming the group chat with memes. The spam folder is where junk mail goes. The word is standard and fine in neutral writing.
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receive / send spam; spam messages; spam someone with emails; spammed / spamming
- The unused inbox still receives a surprising amount of spam.
- Someone spammed the address with repeated advertisements.
- I moved the unwanted messages into the spam folder.
What changed
First versionI received three spam this morning.
RevisionI received three spam messages this morning.
Each spam email is a separate message, so “three spam” seems logical. But spam is uncountable, like mail or information: much spam, a lot of spam. To count it, add messages or emails: three spam messages.
Junk mail is almost the same: paper ads in your letterbox or the Junk folder in your inbox. A scam is a fraud: spam can lead to a scam, but not all spam is a trick. A newsletter is something you signed up for yourself.
Your turn
There is too ___ spam in this inbox.
Show the answer
much — Spam is uncountable here, so much. Many goes before countable plurals: many spam messages.
Describe how much spam reaches an old inbox or a group chat. Use spam.
The old mailbox gets so much spam that genuine invitations are hard to notice.
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