Monday, March 26, 2007
April Fools Around the World Trivia
The phobic name for the fear of April Fools' Day is Aphrilophobia.

There are various retorts used to pranksters when April fool jokes are attempted on the wrong day:

"April Fool's a-comin' and you're the biggest fool a-runnin'."
"April Fool's past, and you're the biggest fool at last."
"April Fool's has come and gone: who's the fool that carried it on?"
In the film The French Connection, the opening scenes take place on April 1 and show children in Marseille running around pinning poissons d'Avril (April fish) on each other.

Apple Computer was founded on April 1st 1976[7]

The April 1 tradition in France includes poisson d'avril (literally "April's fish"), attempting to attach a paper fish to the victim's back without being noticed. This is also widespread in other nations, such as Italy (where the term "April's fish" is also used to refer to any jokes done during the day).

In Spanish-speaking countries, similar pranks are practiced on December 28, the Day of the Holy Innocents. This custom also exists in certain areas of Belgium, including the province of Antwerp. The Flemish tradition is for children to lock out their parents or teachers, only letting them in if they promise to bring treats the same evening or the next day.

In Iran, people play jokes on each other on April 3, the 13th day of the Persian calendar new year (Norouz). This day is called "Sizdah bedar" (Outdoor thirteen). It is believed that people should go out on this date in order to escape the bad luck of number 13.

In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the April 1 tradition requires jokes to be played before midday: if somebody pulls an April Fools' Trick after midday, then the person pulling the trick is actually considered the fool.

In Denmark the 1st of May is known as "Maj-kat", meaning quite simply "May-cat", and is identical to April Fools' day, though Danes also celebrate April Fools' day ("aprilsnar").

Some Jewish communities have a traditional event called a Purim spiel, which is similar in many ways to April Fools' Day. Fake newspaper articles are common.

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posted by Gerry at Monday, March 26, 2007 ¤ Permalink ¤


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