No mo' "ho ho ho"

[David A. Daniel]

If you have a look here
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22738300-2,00.html you will see that:
(1) "Ho ho ho" has been banned by one Santa recruiter/supplier (i.e. it is
not universal); (2) They banned "Ho ho ho" because they thought it would
frighten children whereas the more usual (among non-Santas) "ha ha ha" would
not; (3) Australian interviewees think it is just as ridiculous as everybody
else does. This may well be excessive political correctness, or it may be
excessive paranoia over law suits but, either way, it is not of the
nappy-headed variety.



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Charles Doyle
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 11:09 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: No mo' "ho ho ho"


>From the AFP wire, posted at Yahoo! News:

<< Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father
Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to
women, it was reported Thursday. >>

Santas in Sydney now say "Ha ha ha."

--Charlie
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