Boldly Going Where No Word Salad Has Gone Before

Like everyone, I receive “word salad” spam. By “word salad,” I mean spam that uses words and phrases from other sources that go together and make sense to try and get past a Bayesian filter.

I’ve just received a Star Trek word salad spam. This is a first.

The subject line, as it arrived:

Picard smiled cautiously. \”No, not at all, sir. We shall be happy to attend.\”

Yes, the backslashes are in the original. Google says that comes from Howard Weinstein’s Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, Power Hungry.

The text of the word salad:

\”No surviving crew members?\” he asked.Even as Enak argued, however, it had already resolved to act in its own defense if the crew persisted in this madness. If one of them actually attempted to damage the ship, Enak would have to shut them down.
He was interrupted when warning lights began to flash.
\”Benjamin? You\’re alive? Kira said-\”

Let’s break this down.

The line beginning with “No surviving crew members” comes from Nathan Archer’s Deep Space Nine novel, Valhalla. (“Archer” is a pseudonym for Lawrence Watt-Evans, by the way.)

“He was interrupted…” comes from Jean Lorrah’s Next Generation novel, Survivors.

Finally, “Benjamin? You’re alive?” comes from Diane Carey’s Deep Space Nine novel, Station Rage.

Google Book Search is amazing.

This is so totally mental I will never, ever delete this spam.