Santas warned 'ho ho ho' offensive to women
 

SYDNEY (AFP) - 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.

Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.

One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.

"Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids.

"We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they," she told the Telegraph.

"Leave Santa alone."

A local spokesman for the US-based Westaff recruitment firm said it was "misleading" to say the company had banned Santa's traditional greeting and it was being left up to the discretion of the individual Santa himself.

I hope Santa leaves the dickheads a lump of coal!!!

Absolutely ridiculous...and i'm actually embarrassed that its come from an Aussie first.

People need to quit being so fucking sensitive!

That this came out of Oz actually surprised me a lot more than the news itself...I had thought Oz to be more PC-resistant for some reason...

PC has gone way too far.......... doesn't ANYBODY has a sense of humor anymore?