I remember a friend who borrowed money and told me she is not going to pay it anymore because it was April Fools’ Day…What? It was not funny for me, especially when I am on a tight budget. However, the only way to get even is to take revenge and create another prank for your friend.
Nobody knows the exact origin of April Fools’ Day, but there are many theories written about it. What we are sure of is that April Fools’ Day has been celebrated long before it got famous in the 19th century. Take for example the prank in 1857 where tickets were even printed out for the annual ceremony of “Washing the Lions”, but the event did not take place.
April Fools’ Day tradition is known as April Fish in Italy (pesce d’aprile), The Netherlands and Belgium (aprilvis), France and other French-speaking areas in Switzerland and Canada (poissons d’avril) where they attach a paper fish to the target’s back without being noticed. The fish symbolises an easily caught fish and a gullible person.
In Scotland and Ireland, the prank is to ask someone to deliver an important letter to a person then the recipient will then request the victim to take it to someone else then he will be asked to bring it again to another person which is sending the fool further.
Some countries use the media to announce a hoax and mostly believed by the public. Take for instance the “Spaghetti-tree” hoax in 1957 where a tree bore spaghetti noodles. Another one is when Google announced the launching of Gmail with 1-gigabyte inboxes in 2004. They were all controversial and gained amusements as well as criticisms.
So on April 1st, whether it’s your friend, the newspaper or the television giving you a piece of information…be careful, you might hear them say “Aprils Fool!“
Beware: Don’t Be A Fool!
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