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

 

Poisson d’avril

Bonjour!
The next French Club meeting will be tomorrow night to celebrate Poisson d’avril! We will be talking about the history of the holiday and how the French came to celebrate the holiday. While learning about the history, it may get a little fishy as you will also be able to make your own poisson d’avril! Come enjoy!
Date: Tuesday, March 31st
Where: Franz 217
Time: 6:00-7:00