Poisson d’avril

POISSON D’AVRIL

Poisson d'avril

L’HISTOIRE

  • New Year originally started on April 1st.
  • King Charles IX said no and changed the date to the first of January with the Edict of Roussillon.
  • However, people were mad and decided to ignore the Edict and continue to celebrate on April 1st while mocking those who celebrated on January 1st.

WHY A FISH?

  • Lent! When April 1st was the start of the new year, people couldn’t eat meat because of Lent. So they gave out fish!
  • When the tradition changed, people gave out fake fish on April 1st to those who celebrated January 1st to make fun of them!

HOW DO OTHER COUNTRIES CELEBRATE?

  • United Kingdom:
    • Joking stops at midday.
    • Those who continue to make jokes are considered the fool
  • Scotland and Ireland:
    • Huntigowk Day
    • Deliver a sealed message
    • Continue to have the messenger deliver the sealed message
    • Because the message just says, “Send the fool further.”
  • Poland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden:
    • Media hoaxes are made
    • First page is typically the news hoax
    • Not too serious and only 1 story but never know which story is fake
  • Italy, France, Belgium, and French Speaking Areas:
    • April Fish
    • Stick on someone’s back

VOCABULARY FOR THE DAY

  • Une farce: a practical joke
  • Une blague: a joke (physical or verbal)
  • Une histoire drôle: verbal funny story
  • Un jeu de mot: a pun
  • Rire: to laugh
  • Rigoler: to laugh
  • Je suis mort(e) de rire: I died from laughing
  • Je suis pété(e) de rire: I’m broken in two from laughing.

UNE CHOSE INTERESSANTE

  • April Fool’s day is not a national holiday!!
  • Rather, it is merely widely celebrated in many countries.

Poisson d'avril 2