To think that only posh people say Father Christmas?!

[charliesp]

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?

Spidercharlotte

Who really gives a shit, call it what you like

May I add to Cheminger's list please :

Ireland is a separate country to the UK.
We have our own Prime Minister, government, President etc.

My parents used the term Santy but my own family use Santa (Claus)
In Irish Gaelic Santa Claus is referred to as San Nioclás.

Very working class, called him father Christmas as a child. My kids call him Santa as their Daddy is Irish

Who really gives a shit

I do! @slinkysaluki - no idea why!

I think it's the dismissiveness of some of the posts pisses me off.

We always say father Christmas. Not posh. The only person I've heard use santa is a friend of mine from ireland. Everyone else in my area of England says father Christmas so far as I've heard.

I've always thought it was an English thing. Nobody I know (Scottish) calls him Father Christmas, only English friends and their children.

No. I say Father Christmas as that’s what I was taught by school and family. I’m not posh.

I think Santa Clause became popular in the 1980s after appearing in all America TV series which were appearing on our screens by then.

I do think ‘Santa’ is a bit downmarket though. I remember the cheap Christmas cards all said ‘Santa.’ while the nice cards said ‘Father Christmas’ when I was young (centuries ago).

Hate Santa as so American.

Posts like this. Someone saying they hate it because it's American (which it's not but that's not the point). It's a shit thing to say.

I use both. I prefer Father Christmas because it reminds me of my childhood but the children prefer Santa. They also eat chicken nuggets. I think I’ve failed the middle class mummy test

It was always Father Christmas when I was growing up so I continued that with my children. So many people say Santa now though, think I’m just getting old and am out of step!

I'm actually considering contacting MNHQ to ask them to remove this thread on the grounds that it's detrimental to my health

It's serving as a valuable tool to weed out the people who either can't read, can't do basic comprehension, or are just pig-ignorant though.

I do think ‘Santa’ is a bit downmarket though. I remember the cheap Christmas cards all said ‘Santa.’ while the nice cards said ‘Father Christmas’ when I was young (centuries ago).

Wow.

I'm 52 and we always said Santa. My parents were born in the 1930's and they always said Santa. My grandparents were born in the 1400's and they always said Santa. It's got nothing to do with 1980s American TV shows.

@NightsOfCabiria 'I think Santa Clause became popular in the 1980s after appearing in all America TV series which were appearing on our screens by then.'

So why did all my (NE English) family in the 60s/70s, plus grandparents born in the 1910s-1920s call him Santa? Clairvoyance?

You're talking bollocks, I'm afraid.

@PineappleDanish this is true!

There does seem to be a small cohort of posters who absolutely refuse to believe that most of the Scots and Irish on here will always have used Santa. I don't know why. This is the weirdest thread I've seen for a long time.

We always used St Nicolas but I grew up in Germany.

My children interchanged Father Christmas and Santa because different grandparents used different names.

I don't think it overly matters.

Oh excellent, we're downmarket now. The thread just keeps giving!

I’m older than you Spider and we always said Santa, as did my parents and grandparents. Mind you mine weren’t born in the 15th century . I am able to accept that other people say Father Christmas without judgement, shame they can’t reciprocate in good grace.

I loved it when dd used to say "Farmer Christmas"

YABU, I’m very common and I say Father Christmas 😂

Santy

I searched up history of Santa and Father Christmas and found an old MN thread from 2009 saying much the same things. So maybe this unbecoming a Christmas tradition.

.

Santa is American!! We say father Christmas in our house and not posh!!!

I'm far from posh and I say Father Christmas!

• I actually typed becoming but some of the opinions are quite unbecoming .