Wellington  - An attempt by Santa Claus to say thank you in Norwegian during a family concert in Auckland went wrong when some of the audience thought he was using the F-word, a newspaper reported Sunday.

A woman told the Herald on Sunday it was an "absolutely lovely occasion" until Santa swore. She said she was absolutely certain that Santa had said fuck, and the 1,600-member audience was almost silenced.

"It annoyed me," she said. "It soured a very nice occasion. People took exception to it. It was very inappropriate."

Gary Daverne, musical director of the Auckland Symphony Orchestra, said he had been told the 84-year-old Santa - father of a musician and grandfather of several elves and fairies at the concern - had actually said "takk," Norwegian for thank you.

"It came as a bit of a surprise," he said. "It was bad diction."

Ron Lauese, who conducted the Greyfriars Presbyterian Church choir at the concert, said he also thought Santa had sworn but realized he had not set out to be inappropriate.

"He has an accent," Lauese said. "I think people mistook it and got confused." (dpa)