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  • April Fools’ Day traditions around the world

    photo by johnny2love/Flickr

    If you pride yourself on your jokes and pranks but you feel like your sense of humor is not appreciated enough (and maybe even earned you a few good yellings), April Fools’ Day is a holiday that was just made for you.

    Being on the giving rather than on the receiving end of a practical joke certainly plays a part in how much you enjoy this holiday, but in any case, this is the only day in the year when you can be as childish and sneaky as you want (and ask people ‘why so serious?’). So to give you some ideas for new tricks and pranks, here are some April Fools’ Day traditions around the world.

    France

    In France, April Fools’ is called Poisson d’Avril, which means April Fish, in reference to the newly hatched fish which are supposedly innocent and easy to trick. The most traditional prank in France (and thus, the most difficult to accomplish) is to tape a fish on someone’s back and to call them a poisson d’avril when they finally discover it.

    Nowadays, a paper fish is substituted for the real deal, probably because the fish smell gave the prank away very quickly.

    Scotland

    In Scotland, April Fools’ lasts for two days instead of one, and it’s called either April Gowk or Taily Day. The traditional Taily Day prank is quite amusing, but not for the person on whom the prank is pulled. The prank goes like this: you ask someone to deliver a note to someone else, and the receiver of the note (who is informed via the note about the prank) will send the messenger to someone else, and so on.

    On the second day, pranks are less imaginative (but still funny), and they are along the lines of ‘kick me’ notes stuck to people’s backs.

    Poland

    The Prima Aprilis in Poland is partly a children’t holiday, when kids dress up in costumes, but the adults get to have a fair bit of fun too. The media are usually avoiding serious subjects and many of the news on TV and in newspapers are hoaxes. The conviction of the people that serious business should be avoided in so strong that even the date of Poland’s annexation to Turkey (April 1, 1683) was moved back to March 31.

    England

    Historians have several theories about the origins of April Fools’ Day, but the general consensus is that it was popularized in England in 1700. Traditionally, you could only pull a prank on a person before noon, otherwise you were the one who was considered the fool. But don’t let this stop you from tricking someone in the afternoon!

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