Calgary Merriam-Webster Confused By Santa's Reindeer Names | HuffPost Weird News - Action.News ABC Action News WestNet-HD Weather Traffic

The folks behind the Merriam-Webster dictionary apparently want to have some words with Santa Claus mostly about the names he gave some of his reindeer .

The dictionary asked some hard yet hilarious questions Tuesday about Santas choices for reindeer monikers.

Posting on X (or, as virtually everyone still calls it, Twitter), Merriam-Webster conceded that some of the animals names make sense.

Theres Dasher, which means one that dashes; Dancer, which is one that dances; and Prancer, which means one that walks or moves in a spirited manner. Fine. Reindeer might reasonably do all three of these things.

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Rudolph gets all the love so lets talk about the names of Santas other reindeer.

dasher | noun | one that dashes
dancer | noun | one that dances
prancer | noun | one that walks or moves in a spirited manner

Ok, those three are easy to understand.
Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 19, 2023

But some confusion crept in with Vixen, a word that Merriam-Webster noted can mean a female fox, a shrewish, ill-tempered woman or a sexually attractive woman.

Ummm, whats going on here, Santa? Merriam-Websters social media person asked, speaking for all of us.

Now, we get to Vixen. vixen is a noun and has 3 senses.

1. a female fox
2. a shrewish, ill-tempered woman
3. a sexually attractive woman

Ummm, whats going on here, Santa?

Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 19, 2023","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Merriam-Webster","author_url":"https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster","cache_age":86400,"description":"Now, we get to Vixen. vixen is a noun and has 3 senses.1. a female fox2. a shrewish, ill-tempered woman3. a sexually attractive womanUmmm, whats going on here, Santa? 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Now, we get to Vixen. vixen is a noun and has 3 senses.

1. a female fox
2. a shrewish, ill-tempered woman
3. a sexually attractive woman

Ummm, whats going on here, Santa?
Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 19, 2023

Merriam-Webster found it slightly easier to understand why Santa might name a magical reindeer Comet: Both fly... so sure, why not?

comet | noun | a celestial body that appears as a fuzzy head usually surrounding a bright nucleus, that has a usually highly eccentric orbit, that consists primarily of ice and dust, and that often develops one or more long tails when near the sun

Both fly... so sure, why not?

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comet | noun | a celestial body that appears as a fuzzy head usually surrounding a bright nucleus, that has a usually highly eccentric orbit, that consists primarily of ice and dust, and that often develops one or more long tails when near the sun

Both fly... so sure, why not?
Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 19, 2023

But Cupids name caused more head-scratching for Merriam-Webster, since its also the name of the Roman god of erotic love.

Were kind of drifting back into Vixen-territory, the tweet noted.

Ok, were kind of drifting back into Vixen-territory with Cupid.

Cupid | noun | the Roman god of erotic love

Ho-ho-hold on a minute...

Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 19, 2023","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Merriam-Webster","author_url":"https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster","cache_age":86400,"description":"Ok, were kind of drifting back into Vixen-territory with Cupid.Cupid | noun | the Roman god of erotic loveHo-ho-hold on a minute... 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Ok, were kind of drifting back into Vixen-territory with Cupid.

Cupid | noun | the Roman god of erotic love

Ho-ho-hold on a minute...
Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 19, 2023

The dictionary had no notes for the final two reindeer, Donner and Blitzen, since their names are based on the Dutch words for thunder and lightning, which is pretty metal.

Weve always thought these two were the bad boys of the sleigh, Merriam-Webster tweeted.

Lastly, we get to Donner and Blitzen.

Donner was originally Donder which is Standard Dutch meaning thunder.

Blitzen comes from the Standard Dutch bliksem, which means lightning.

We've always thought these two were the bad boys of the sleigh.

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Lastly, we get to Donner and Blitzen.

Donner was originally Donder which is Standard Dutch meaning thunder.

Blitzen comes from the Standard Dutch bliksem, which means lightning.

We've always thought these two were the bad boys of the sleigh.
Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 19, 2023

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The names of the eight main reindeer first appeared in the 1823 poem A Visit From St. Nicholas, aka Twas The Night Before Christmas so maybe Merriam-Webster is better off directing its questions to the estate of author Clement Clarke Moore.

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