April
Fool's Day is traditionally a day to play practical jokes on others, send
people on fool's errands, and fool the unsuspecting. No one knows how this
holiday began but it was thought to have originated in France.
The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of
this tradition was in 1582, in France. New Year's was celebrated on March
25 and celebrations lasted until April 1st. When New Year's Day as changed
from March 25 to January 1st in the mid-1560's by King Charles IX, there
were some people who still celebrated it on April 1st and those people
were called April Fools.
Pranks performed on April Fool's Day range from the simple, (such as
saying, "Your shoe's untied!), to the elaborate. Setting a roommate's
alarm clock back an hour is a common gag. The news media even gets involved.
For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool's Day was
a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and
how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees. Whatever the prank,
the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!"
April Fool's Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is
expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other" out
to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It's simply
a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant,
for he may be the next April Fool!
Each country
celebrates April Fool's differently. In France, the April Fool's is called
"April Fish" (Poisson d'Avril). The French fool their friends
by taping a paper fish to their friends' backs and when some discovers
a this trick, they yell "Poisson d'Avril!".
In England, tricks can be played only in the morning. If a trick is played
on you, you are a "noodle". In Scotland, April Fools Day is
48 hours long and you are called an "April Gowk", which is another
name for a cuckoo bird. The second day in Scotland's April Fool's is called
Taily Day and is dedicated to pranks involving the buttocks. Taily Day's
gift to posterior posterity is the still-hilarious "Kick Me"
sign.
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