The name of the mythical character is Santa C - L - A - U - S. No final E. It’s a diminutive for Nicholas in Dutch (and I think German) and in English-speaking areas that have been influenced by the Dutch and Plattdeutsch.
The name of the Tim Allen movie derives from a bit of wordplay involving the homophony between the name Claus and the word for a subject-and-verb-containing sentence fragment which is commonly used for elements of legal contracts. Because Tim’s character takes out Santa Claus (no E), he’s obliged to replace him: the “Santa clause” (pun) in the arrangement requires him to.
That’s all. It’s a pet peeve of mine about the misspelling; sorry I had to take it out on you, but I said I would, so I have to keep my written promise. (Hmmm, wonder what clause or Claus requires that! ;))
Damn, this is outrageous! An “e” or the lack thereof or whatever the hell it was. Anyone taking liberties with Santa should be ashamed of themselves! I’m going to pout!
I’m sorry, no matter how much I agree with the OP, no matter how infantile a question this is, I still find it funny (in an immature, silly way) how wordplay was made of a possible argument against this annual miracle that “occurs”.
Actually, it’s just the German diminutive. The Dutch diminutive goes as follows: Sint Nicolaas - Sinterklaas. Klaas is actually a fairly common boy’s name, and is diminutive for “Nicolaas” in general. Us Dutch tend to glue words together whenever we can, to confuse the foreigners - and ourselves. Hence the word “Sinterklaas”, where the “er” just connects the Sint (“saint”, obviously) and Klaas.
Claus is of course the German diminutive for Nicolaus. And whilst Santa Claus maybe mythical, Saint Nicholas really did exist. But I know I don’t have to inform Poly about the bishop of Myra.
It’s the fact that he puts on the Santa suit, not that he killed Santa, that obligates him to take on the role (perhaps you’re confusing it with the role of Death in Peirs Anthony’s On A Pale Horse?)
Erm, in keeping with the thread, I’m pretty sure it’s Donder, not Donner.
Donder is German for thunder, and Blitzen for lightning.
No, I don’t have a cite, being too lazy to look for one, but it does make intuitive sense, and there are still eight tiny reindeer, plus Rudolph, that prima donna, which wouldn’t be likely when you consider the chances of everyone surviving a winter in an isolated area with someone named “Donner”.
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