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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that only posh people say Father Christmas?!

999 replies

charliesp · 05/12/2019 12:20

And everyone else says Santa?

I say Santa but my posh DH and all his family and posh friends say Father Christmas.

Anyone else noticed this? Or AIBU?

OP posts:
HowlsMovingBungalow · 05/12/2019 14:50

Yes the original saint is from the 1200 but no-one called him Santa.

Read the link.

www.stnicholascenter.org/who-is-st-nicholas/origin-of-santa

tillytrotter1 · 05/12/2019 14:51

Didn't the image of FC or SC as a jolly, bearded man wearing a red suit come from American advertising, earlier images have him much slimmer, dressed in green?

JigglyRafferty · 05/12/2019 14:53

haha I have noticed this too! I am from Scotland and we say Santa but now I live in England and everyone says Father Christmas. It sounds posh to me too.

LaurieMarlow · 05/12/2019 14:53

Yes the original saint is from the 1200 but no-one called him Santa.

The dutch called him Sinterklaas.

Now, does it take a genius to see how that became Santa Claus?

WooMaWang · 05/12/2019 14:53

This thread is a hilarious illustration of the need to RTFT. It's worse than cancel the cheque was.

No matter how many people point out that plenty of people in the UK and Ireland say Santa (and have done for as long as anyone can remember), there's always yet another 'Santa is an Americanism' post.

Celebelly · 05/12/2019 14:54

Santa has more origin stories than the whole of the Avengers.

UserPop · 05/12/2019 14:54

I'm from Wales and we mostly say Santa.

needsomehelptoday · 05/12/2019 14:56

I'm in Scotland so say Santa. To me Father Christmas is English rather than posh

Lyricallie · 05/12/2019 14:57

Another Scottish person checking in and he has always been Santa to us. I just assumed it was English / posh people that said father Christmas.

HowlsMovingBungalow · 05/12/2019 14:57

But lets pick one link that suits your argument hey?

LaurieMarlow · 05/12/2019 15:05

Not quite sure what your point is Howl. Are you saying that the Dutch didn't call him Sinterklass? Or that you don't believe that morphed into Santa Claus?

dreichXmas · 05/12/2019 15:05

Just like Halloween, Santa is originally a Scottish/Irish thing that was brought to the US along with settlers. It's always been Santa in Scotland/Ireland, not a new thing at all.

One more for the thread.

English DH says FC I think.

Stickybeaksid · 05/12/2019 15:08

Brexit explained in one thread I think

thegreylady · 05/12/2019 15:09

Surely Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas whereas Father Christmas is the European Le Pere Noel, Noel Baba etc.

HowlsMovingBungalow · 05/12/2019 15:13

I am saying the Santa Claus - the big jolly white haired man in red clothes with reindeers was created in America in the 1800's.
Not denying the other ancient history of the Saint.

lowlandLucky · 05/12/2019 15:14

I am Scottish and it is Father Christmas in our house

redwoodmazza · 05/12/2019 15:16

I am old and ordinary! I have always said Father Christmas.
I feel Santa Claus is short for St. Nicholas - which is not how I nor my family have ever referred to him. It feels more American, somehow.

LaurieMarlow · 05/12/2019 15:17

Not denying the other ancient history of the Saint.

And you don't see how the Saint Nicholas story (Sinterklaus, remember) developed gradually into the Santa Claus story over many hundreds of years in oral tradition, before being captured in print in the 1800s?

dreichXmas · 05/12/2019 15:18

It is irritating to have the culture of ones own country continually ascribed to another country.
It adds to the irritation that this is done by people who actually share a country with you.
The UK isn't just England, the UK and England are not identical and interchangeable words.

kenandbarbie · 05/12/2019 15:18

I said Father Christmas in England, now I'm in Ireland I say Santa.

Westiegirl3 · 05/12/2019 15:20

Nope certainly not posh and he's Father Christmas here

astralweaks · 05/12/2019 15:21

A pp asked for a definition of posh. Here is a list...

22 SIGNS THAT YOU'RE POSH

By James Harvey

  1. You know the correct pronunciation of every single word in the English language
  1. You own a pair of red trousers and wear them without irony (or sobriety)
  1. You own a house in the country that was built by an ancestor who has his own Wikipedia page (not written by you)
  1. You were privately educated (this one is non negotiable)
  1. The Shipping Forecast is a powerful aphrodisiac
  1. You never wear clothing with visible labels (unless it's from Tesco)
  1. You advertise the fact that you like rubgy and cricket
  1. But know nothing about football ("Harry Kane? Isn't he a cardiologist on Harley Street?")
  1. You bank with Handelsbanken (used to be Coutts - but that’s now for vulgar footballers and their WAGs)

  1. You own less than one television

  2. Radio 4 (including that fantastically boring gardening show and the incomprehensible radio plays)

  3. The three most beautiful words in the English language: "Fortnum and Mason"

  4. You own a muddy old Range Rover whose interior is covered in dog hair that goes all the way back to the dog that died in 1972 (the same year you inherited the car)

  5. You never speak of money unless it’s to complain how little you have

  6. You own a jumper that's older than your wife

  7. “I’ve never read the Daily Mail"

  8. You own a pair of wellies that are so permanently in mud it’s no longer possible to discern their original color (green)

  9. You know to pronounce the surname St John as “SIN-jin”

  10. Gin and tonic? Gin and tonic? Lovely -- three gin and tonics

  11. You shop at Oxfam charity shops

  12. You spend more on Lily's Kitchen Dog Food (click here) than you do on your own food

  13. You didn't click on this article

SproutinducingFarti · 05/12/2019 15:23

Father Christmas has its roots in the Pagan Yule festival - spirit of winter etc and in Victorian times and earlier was often seen in a green or blue gown. He wears a floor-length robe and is older/more traditional than Santa in England.
Santa, as pp poster says is a corruption of St Nicholas and originated in Holland, coming to Britain via the USA.
I wonder if the difference in England vs Scotland/Ireland was due to Santa ( St Nicholas) being more readily adopted by Roman Catholics or Dutch origin Protestants whereas English Protestants weirdly were more willing to hark back to a pre puritan pagan tradition, but I don't know for certain

SoftBlocks · 05/12/2019 15:24

My family say Santa because we are Scottish. Sometimes pronounced ‘Suntee ‘

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