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Is using "Father Christmas" vs "Santa" a class signifier?

378 replies

Flapjacker48 · 25/12/2021 09:22

Upper/upper middle - use "Father Christmas"

Working/lower middle - "Santa"

The "Santa" we use in the UK today is almost an original European export to American and has come back as a tackier and vulgar Santa.

OP posts:
Ohyesiam · 25/12/2021 20:02

My kids , and all Americans are in a different social class to me. Who knew?

Needsomeadvice33 · 25/12/2021 20:23

Nobody in Scotland who is actually Scottish says father Christmas.

LittleRoundRobin · 25/12/2021 20:43

@BlueRoseInBloom

What a nasty sneery goady thread to post on Christmas day.

Peace and good will to all, eh!

So long as you're not below upper middle class, that is. Then you're being judged for saying Santa.

Like I said, how sneery.

Sharp contrast with the poster who wanted to share her joy that her non verbal child said thank you unexpectedly.

This. Makes me wonder why people post this goady shit tbh.

According to some...

Only lower class say 'Santa.' Middle and upper class say 'Father Christmas.'

Only lower class say 'tea.' Middle and upper class say 'dinner.'

Only lower class have their evening meal before 6pm, the 'better people' have it after 8pm. (The later in the evening you have it, the 'posher' you are.)

Only lower class people have babies in their 20s, middle class in their 30s, and upper class in their 40s. (Well, there is the obvious lower class pleb who had TWO before she was 25... THE QUEEN!) Wink

Only lower class do ready meals/microwave meals, and use gravy granules and frozen veg etc... Middle and upper class cook from scratch and grow all their own veg and fruit and herbs, (and make their gravy and yorkshire puds from scratch.)

Only lower class do their own housework, middle class have a cleaner.

Only lower class change their surname on marriage. Middle class 'professionals' always keep their maiden name. Hmm

Only lower class live 'oop north.' The middle and upper classes are far more likely to live somewhere 'posh' down south.

Only lower class rent their home. And only the middle/upper classes are homeowners.

And loads more classist bollocks.

As I say, I wonder why people post this shit? Does it make them feel big/ important/ special/ clever? Because they don't LOOK it, they just look like narrow-minded, badly-educated, judgemental arseholes.

coochyboochy · 25/12/2021 20:59

@LittleRoundRobin On your class-o-meter, out of nine class signifiers, I score:

5.5 working class
3.5 middle class

What a conundrum! 🤣

StFrancisdeCompostela · 25/12/2021 21:04

Santa in Scotland regardless of class.

Crowdfundingforcake · 25/12/2021 21:08

Needsomeadvice33, 'actual' Scottish here, and very definitely Father Christmas. Maybe that means I'm no true Scot, eh?

tinse1 · 25/12/2021 21:17

Who cares that they say ‘Santa’ or ‘Father Christmas’ in Scotland - or anywhere for that matter! Somebody was banging on and on about this last week on a thread. Weird.

Nobody cares!!!!!

amoosee · 25/12/2021 21:20

Every fucking year.

It's Christmas OP, find something better to do.

tttigress · 25/12/2021 22:13

I think it is more of a generation things.

Samiklaus went to America as a German immigrant, then returned to Europe as Santa Claus via American movies.

I think before say the 1980s, in the UK it was Father Christmas all round.

BourbonScreams · 25/12/2021 22:14
Biscuit
LittleRoundRobin · 25/12/2021 22:18

[quote coochyboochy]@LittleRoundRobin On your class-o-meter, out of nine class signifiers, I score:

5.5 working class
3.5 middle class

What a conundrum! 🤣[/quote]
Grin !

Chemenger · 25/12/2021 22:20

My grandfather called him Santa, in Scotland. He was born in 1878 and probably never watched American television. I’m not sure he ever owned a TV.

Hospedia · 25/12/2021 22:20

I think before say the 1980s, in the UK it was Father Christmas all round.

Were Scotland, Ireland, and NE England only invented in the 1980s then?

PAFMO · 25/12/2021 22:21

@tttigress

I think it is more of a generation things.

Samiklaus went to America as a German immigrant, then returned to Europe as Santa Claus via American movies.

I think before say the 1980s, in the UK it was Father Christmas all round.

You think wrong
Theremoresefulday · 25/12/2021 22:23

@tttigress

I think it is more of a generation things.

Samiklaus went to America as a German immigrant, then returned to Europe as Santa Claus via American movies.

I think before say the 1980s, in the UK it was Father Christmas all round.

Nope. Was Santa all the way in the part of the uk where I grew up and my gran would be 120 this year and she called him Santa too.

Not a thing to do with American movies.

The ignorance shown on this thread is astounding.

TheKeatingFive · 25/12/2021 22:26

He was Santa in Ireland and Scotland looooong before the 1980s.

JustUseTheDoorSanta · 25/12/2021 22:28

DS is 3 and says both interchangeably, and we both do as well. People around us, books and films all use both, so both are his valid names. Linking words to your own notions of class never works, but it does seem to me that those who fret about who is what class are overly concerned about their place. It's Christmas OP, your place is to be snuggled up in a warm cosy chair with booze and a biscuit, whatever class you are, so relax.

tttigress · 25/12/2021 22:30

Maybe slightly earlier than 80s media, but the origin is definitely Dutch/Germanic that merged into American culture: www.history.com/.amp/topics/christmas/santa-claus

PurpleNebula84 · 25/12/2021 22:31

I use both 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️
Completely interchangeable for us - Santa and FC - probably use Santa more as it's quicker to say, but that is probably the only reasoning behind it x

KurtWildesChristmasNamechange · 25/12/2021 22:32

We always said Father Christmas as kids and my DC say the same. Definitely not middle/upper class!!

PAFMO · 25/12/2021 22:34

[quote tttigress]Maybe slightly earlier than 80s media, but the origin is definitely Dutch/Germanic that merged into American culture: www.history.com/.amp/topics/christmas/santa-claus[/quote]
Dutch.
As has been said on both this thread, and every other snotty smug thread about the lower classes saying Santa. 17th century origins. Not quite 1980s.

TheKeatingFive · 25/12/2021 22:34

Maybe slightly earlier than 80s media, but the origin is definitely Dutch/Germanic that merged into American culture

No, it has been established in Celtic countries since at least the 19th century ta. History isn't simplistic and linear.

Pigeoninthehouse · 25/12/2021 22:39

*Nope. Was Santa all the way in the part of the uk where I grew up and my gran would be 120 this year and she called him Santa too.

Not a thing to do with American movies.

The ignorance shown on this thread is astounding.*
Santa is in wide spread use now because of American films. I grew up in the northwest (England) it was father Christmas in my childhood, kids now say santa (UK wide) because of the steady creep of Americanisms into British culture, its not because we've decided to pay homage our European Ancestry.

HidingFromDD · 25/12/2021 22:42

I think the obsession with class is usually found amongst the 'aspiring middle class'. it seems to be linked to the idea that the SE regional way of speaking is somehow 'posh'. You do realise that there are different regions in the UK?

As for the 'it's an American import' can we please just drop this one, it's regional (said as someone who grew up with 2 hours of kids tv, if you were lucky, none of it imported, and have always had a MOM because, it's a regional thing)

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