# "Ho ho ho, who wouldn't go?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860 "2010-12-03T21:22:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/1 "2010-12-03T21:22:16Z")
From the song “Up on the House Top” (or “Roof Top,” as some remember it). An earlier thread: [Have you heard of the Christmas song "Up On the Housetop?" - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=543299) “Ho ho ho, who wouldn’t go? Ho ho ho, who wouldn’t go? Up on the house top, click click click; Down through the chimney with good St. Nick…” So… what does it mean, “Who wouldn’t go?” Who wouldn’t want to clamber up a ladder to see Santa? Who wouldn’t want to ride in his sleigh with him? Something else? I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/2 "2010-12-03T21:30:45Z")
“If given the opportunity, who wouldn’t choose to accompany Santa Claus on his yearly visit to each and every housetop (each visit to include a trip down the chimney and back)” ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/3 "2010-12-03T21:34:44Z")
Who wouldn’t go (to see Santa Claus).:o ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/4 "2010-12-03T22:16:05Z")
Who in their right mind puts “a hammer and lots of tacks” and “a whip that cracks” is some kid’s stocking? That’s just kooky talk. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/5 "2010-12-03T22:48:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Who in their right mind puts “a hammer and lots of tacks” and “a whip that cracks” is some kid’s stocking? That’s just kooky talk. On a light note, don’t deny the Munsons their right to a happy Christmas! On a serious note, I was raised between farms \ and those sound awesome and useful in the context of, say, Little House on the Prairie or something. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/6 "2010-12-03T22:58:52Z")
On a similar note, I remember this one from a long lost collection of Cthulhu carols: Up on the housetop, reindeer paws All that’s left of Santa Claus ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/7 "2010-12-04T18:31:59Z")
It was written in 1864, so it can perhaps be forgiven for its gifts being a bit of date. “an iPod stuffed to the brim with raps, a Smartphone, too, with lots of apps” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/8 "2010-12-05T00:21:25Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Who in their right mind puts “a hammer and lots of tacks” and “a whip that cracks” is some kid’s stocking? That’s just kooky talk. When I was 5 or 6 I got some toy tools for a present - but they weren’t plastic stuff, they were good honest metal, just small (kid-sized). My folks found out why I had been so quiet for so long when they found me in a corner, drilling a hole in the trim on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/9 "2010-12-05T01:51:54Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > **It was written in 1864** , so it can perhaps be forgiven for its gifts being a bit of date. > > “an iPod stuffed to the brim with raps, > a Smartphone, too, with lots of apps” 1864? I had no idea the song was that old. I would’ve thought, at the earliest, it was written in the 1910s. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/10 "2010-12-05T01:56:58Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “a whip that cracks” is some kid’s stocking? That’s just kooky talk. That one’s courtesy of the [Whipping Father](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A8re_Fouettard). Guess he had a few extras. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/11 "2010-12-05T01:58:44Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > That one’s courtesy of the [Whipping Father](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A8re_Fouettard). Guess he had a few extras. Ah. The Anti-Claus. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/12 "2010-12-05T02:44:52Z")
I’ve always interpreted it to mean “Ho, ho, ho, who wouldn’t go? Ho, ho ho, who wouldn’t go up on the housetop (click, click, click) [then] down through the chimney with good Saint Nick?” Because that would be awesome, to get to go up on the roof with Santa and then whoosh! Down the chimney! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/13 "2010-12-05T03:12:24Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Ah. The Anti-Claus. There’s a movie in that. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-ho-ho-who-wouldnt-go/562860/14 "2010-12-05T03:53:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > On a similar note, I remember this one from a long lost collection of Cthulhu carols: > > Up on the housetop, reindeer paws > All that’s left of Santa Claus You’ll like this, then: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ftld7Ohojg&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ftld7Ohojg&feature=related)