Cal Gaunt
The Santa Clause viewers are only just realising why the movie’s title is spelt that way.
There’s plenty of variety when it comes to naming the legendary judge of naughty or nice.
Some call him Father Christmas, some go for Saint Nicholas, or informally, St Nick, while most call him Santa.
However, there’s been some debate about whether Santa’s surname should be written with or without an ‘e’ at the end.
Believe it or not, Clause with the ‘e’ was only popularised by the Tim Allen film, The Santa Clause, in 1994.
And apparently, it’s a play on words and a deliberate misspelling of Santa Claus.
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The traditional spelling, Claus (yes, without the ‘e’), stems from Father Christmas’ Dutch name, Sinter Klaas.
However, things changed when Allen starred in the festive 1994 Disney blockbuster as Scott Calvin, a dad who unintentionally makes Santa fall off his roof on Christmas Eve.
The ‘e’ stuck on the end of Claus refers to the ‘clause’ – like a legal clause – that Scott agrees to in taking the big man’s place and donning the famous red suit, as per Writing Explained.
And it’s fair to say that people’s minds are blown by this.
Fans of the film have taken to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express their shock at this grammatical revelation.
One person wrote: “Still trying to accept the fact that I’ve been unironically spelling it Santa ‘Clause’ like the 1994 movie starring Tim Allen.
“Not realising it was a play on words for like my whole entire life. Merry Christmas.”
Another said: “When I was a kid I had no idea why they called it The Santa Clause.
“I had no idea what a ‘clause’ was, I just thought they deliberately spelt ‘Claus’ wrong for some reason.”
A third noted: “The Santa Claus has brought a lot of joy to folks since 1994, but it has also raised a generation of adults who don’t know how to spell Santa’s name properly.
“The proper spelling is Santa C-L-A-U-S.”
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If you’ve been making this mistake, don’t feel too bad about yourself.
Even an English teacher was fooled by the film’s title for years.
They wrote: “The movie The Santa Clause has permanently ruined my spelling of Santa Claus. I didn’t know it didn’t have an ‘e’ at the end until last year.
“I’M AN ENGLISH TEACHER.”
Another person said: “Annual spelling reminder… Santa Claus is the name of the guy. Santa Clause is the name of the movie starring Tim Allen.
“I wish that movie The Santa Clause never came out because it has f***ed with my spelling for 30+ years. Thanks, Tim Allen.”
Well now you know, it’s Claus – without the ‘e’.
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