So here we are April 1st.......Happy April Fool's Day. Now I don't know how many of you acknowledge this day. But I can remember as a child changing the sugar in the bowl to be salt....or playing a practical joke on someone.....you always had to be on the look out on April fools or at least up until noon. That was the rule you could only pull pranks and jokes up until noon on April Fool's day. Look out teachers if this day fell on a school day.
As an adult I got out of the habit, but my girls would pull the odd prank on me. It is my colleagues at work that are bad.....this one group of friends would make up a dummy patients and hook them up to the monitor and give you some cock a mime story about this patient get you all worked up and then you go in only to find they had pulled a fast one on you. Or you start your shift and they tell you that you have to go on a transport get you all geared up, get the adrenaline going they'd get you into a state then once they realized they had got you....they would shout "April Fool's" mean bastards!!!
Oh there have been some mean practical jokes pulled over the years.....but you know I truly didn't know where this tradition came from .....so of course I had to look it up....and this is what I found.....
Origin
The origin of this custom has been much disputed. Many theories have been suggested.
What seems certain is that it is in some way or other a relic of those once universal festivities held at the vernal equinox, which, beginning on old New Year's Day, the 25th of March, ended on the 2nd of April.
It has been suggested that Europe derived its April-fooling from the French.[2] France was one of the first nations to make January 1 officially New Year's Day (which was already celebrated by many), by decree of Charles IX. This was either in 1564 or in 1582 when Gregorian calendar was established (See Julian start of the year). Thus the New Year's gifts and visits of felicitation which had been the feature of the 1st of April became associated with the first day of January, and those who disliked or did not hear about the change were fair game for those wits who amused themselves by sending mock presents and paying calls of pretended ceremony on the 1st of April. French and Dutch references from 1508 and 1539 respectively describe April Fools' Day jokes and the custom of making them on the first of April.
Though the 1st of April appears to have been anciently observed in Great Britain as a general festival, it was apparently not until the beginning of the 18th century that the making of April-fools was a common custom.
In Scotland the custom was known as "hunting the gowk," i.e. the cuckoo, and April-fools were "April-gowks," the cuckoo being there, as it is in many countries, a term of contempt.
In France the person fooled is known as poisson d'avril. This has been explained from the association of ideas arising from the fact that in April the sun quits the zodiacal sign of the fish. A far more natural explanation would seem to be that the April fish would be a young fish and therefore easily caught. The French traditionally celebrated this holiday by placing dead fish on the backs of friends. Today the fish has been replaced with paper cut-out.
The Dutch celebrate the 1st of April for other reasons. In 1572, the Netherlands were ruled by Spain's King Philip II. Roaming the region were Dutch rebels who called themselves Geuzen, after the French "gueux", meaning beggars. On 1 April 1572, the Geuzen seized the small coastal town of Den Briel. This event was also the start of the general civil rising against the Spanish in other cities in the Netherlands. The Duke of Alba, commander of the Spanish army could not prevent the uprising. Bril is the Dutch word for glasses, so on 1 April, 1572, "Alba lost his glasses". Dutch people find this joke so hilarious they still commemorate the first of April.
Chaucer's story, the Nun's Priest's Tale, written c.1400, takes place on 32 March; that is, 1 April; it is Chanticleer and the Fox, a story of two fools.
The origin of this custom has been much disputed. Many theories have been suggested.
What seems certain is that it is in some way or other a relic of those once universal festivities held at the vernal equinox, which, beginning on old New Year's Day, the 25th of March, ended on the 2nd of April.
It has been suggested that Europe derived its April-fooling from the French.[2] France was one of the first nations to make January 1 officially New Year's Day (which was already celebrated by many), by decree of Charles IX. This was either in 1564 or in 1582 when Gregorian calendar was established (See Julian start of the year). Thus the New Year's gifts and visits of felicitation which had been the feature of the 1st of April became associated with the first day of January, and those who disliked or did not hear about the change were fair game for those wits who amused themselves by sending mock presents and paying calls of pretended ceremony on the 1st of April. French and Dutch references from 1508 and 1539 respectively describe April Fools' Day jokes and the custom of making them on the first of April.
Though the 1st of April appears to have been anciently observed in Great Britain as a general festival, it was apparently not until the beginning of the 18th century that the making of April-fools was a common custom.
In Scotland the custom was known as "hunting the gowk," i.e. the cuckoo, and April-fools were "April-gowks," the cuckoo being there, as it is in many countries, a term of contempt.
In France the person fooled is known as poisson d'avril. This has been explained from the association of ideas arising from the fact that in April the sun quits the zodiacal sign of the fish. A far more natural explanation would seem to be that the April fish would be a young fish and therefore easily caught. The French traditionally celebrated this holiday by placing dead fish on the backs of friends. Today the fish has been replaced with paper cut-out.
The Dutch celebrate the 1st of April for other reasons. In 1572, the Netherlands were ruled by Spain's King Philip II. Roaming the region were Dutch rebels who called themselves Geuzen, after the French "gueux", meaning beggars. On 1 April 1572, the Geuzen seized the small coastal town of Den Briel. This event was also the start of the general civil rising against the Spanish in other cities in the Netherlands. The Duke of Alba, commander of the Spanish army could not prevent the uprising. Bril is the Dutch word for glasses, so on 1 April, 1572, "Alba lost his glasses". Dutch people find this joke so hilarious they still commemorate the first of April.
Chaucer's story, the Nun's Priest's Tale, written c.1400, takes place on 32 March; that is, 1 April; it is Chanticleer and the Fox, a story of two fools.
There you have it. So what did you do for April Fool's?
11 comments:
I've wondered before about how April 1 became a day of pranks. I feel very educated now. Thanks!
Hiya RN. So no joke from you? I posted an April Fools funny at my place.
No April fools jokes here today, too busy dealing with the realties of life...but I do remember from school days the jokes kids used to play..ciao
No April Fool's here either, but I did enjoy reading the history of it!
:)
Well, considering the fact that my church attendance of late has not been very good, saying I went to services today might to some who know me sound like an April Fool's joke to them. But in reality, I DID actually make it to church this morning. Maybe our Pastor thought it was a mirage type of April Fool's joke on him to see me sitting there, huh?
I reset my VCR which pulled the April Fool's joke of jumping ahead one hour for what it thought was Daylight Savings Time. It had me for a minute there!
I can't believe it's been so long since I've been over here! You always have such interesting things posted! Congrats on your award from Curmudgeon...I'm glad he's doing so well.
We didn't do any pranking...we're too boring for that...
WoW! You certainly did your research. Nice job. Thanks for visiting me.
Wow, that was a cool post.
Didn't it drive you crazy setting up all the links?
wow you sure did your homework..cool;)
Laughing at the nurse pranks :)
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