Santa Laughing
Not laughing now: John Oakes, pictured here as Santa, claims he has been fired for saying ‘ho ho ho’ - which is offensive to women

Life takes another bizarre politically correct twist when Santa in Australia is fired for saying ‘Ho ho ho’.

John Oakes, 70, got his marching orders after the store decreed that women might be offended because ‘ho’ is American slang for a whore.

Instead, he was supposed to say Ha-ha-ha.

“They’re are trying to kill the spirit of Christmas,” said Mr Oakes, who has been a Santa for ten years.

He was also found guilty of singing Jingle Bells at the Myer department store in Cairns, Northern Australia.

He said: “The manager told me my services were no longer required.

“When I asked her why, she replied, ‘You said Ho-ho-ho and that’s not appropriate’.

“Not appropriate? How long has Santa been calling Hohoho, for goodness sake?

“She also said I wasn’t supposed to sing.”

A spokesman for the store insisted the elderly Santa was dismissed because of ‘his attitude’ and not for his Ho-hohoing.

“Our Santas are not banned from using the term,” he insisted.

Mr Oakes, who is looking for a new job as Santa, says he is prepared to sing, shout Ho or Ha.

But he draws the line at clambering down chimneys.

Its hard to know with these sorts of things - the guy might have a nasty attitude and uses this as an excuse for being fired. On the other hand, we do have a tendency to go WAY overboard with politically correct nonsense. People are so sensitive these days they can’t deal with being offended and go out of their way to find things to be offended over. I say - get over it. If that’s the worse thing that will ever offend you in your life then you are getting through life pretty easy.

Sheesh!