I'm all for political correctness, but this is taking it too far. Some department stores are now having their Rent-a-Santas say "Ha Ha Ha" instead of "Ho Ho Ho." Why, you ask? Because the word "Ho" now has certain derrogatory connotations. How ridiculous. Do we really think Santa is calling our children an urban euphamism for prostitutes? "Ho Ho Ho" is merry in nature, reminiscent of Santa in Clement C. Moore's classic holiday poem "The Night Before Christmas." It positively evokes Santa laughing so hard that his belly shook like a bowl full of jelly. "Ha Ha Ha," on the other hand, sounds like someone is laughing at you. Witness Nelson Muntz from "The Simpsons," with his trademark "Ha Ha" (and, in one Christmas episode, when laughing at Ned Flanders, "Ha Ha - you're sad at Christmas.") Is Santa laughing at you? Could it be because you were foolish enough to stand outside of Kohl's to be first in line when they opened at 4 am the day after Thanksgiving to buy the new Tickle Me Elmo, only to discover that it was pulled from the shelves because it sounds like it's saying something obscene (but apparently not as obscene as the word Ho, which is why Santa can't use it anymore)?
That Nelson cracks me up.
2 comments:
Uncle Louie from Rocky dressed like Santa and drunkenly cheered "yo, yo, yo" - perhaps this should be the new thing.
I've never seen any of the Rocky movies (but I did have an Uncle Louie too). "Yo, yo, yo" would be better than "Ha, ha, ha," but might make Santa sound like a gangsta rapper!
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