The word “ornery” was originally a dialectal contraction of the word “ordinary.”  Originally, “ornery” simply meant ordinary, or commonplace, but eventually evolved into meaning naughty or cantankerous.

Old people love that word.

And they love calling kids “ornery.” 

Old person: “Hey, little kid.  Santa won’t come this year, because you’ve been too ordinary!”

Classic old person.

The poem beginning, “Twas the night before Christmas…,” is titled A Visit from St. Nicholas, and was written in 1823 by Clement Clarke Moore.  This poem largely standardized St. Nicholas as a fat man who flew around with reindeer. 

It is quite remarkable that this caught on.  It almost seems like Clement Clarke Moore combined all of the weirdest things he could possible imagine and created an image of Santa.

It appears one night of aggressive moonshine binging gave us the endearing image we celebrate today!