Falsely telling your friend that you are going to drop out of school to join the circus may make you sound a little crazy on any other day besides today. Today, being \April Fools' Day"" gives us all an excuse to lie, play mean and nasty pranks and be otherwise mischevious. It has become the traditional day for deception and trickery on our friends and family, but all in the name of fun.
""The best prank ever was one year at the beginning of my freshman year of high school. My teacher said she was thirsty so when I went to get her water, I brought her back soapy water,"" said UW-Madison sophomore Elizabeth Richardson. ""She thought it was clever.""
All too often, the fun and lighthearted spirit of April Fools' Day diminishes with age and sensibility. It has generally been regarded as a children's holiday, and perhaps rightfully so. However, some students are still able to find enjoyment out of planning and executing outrageous lies on this day.
""Every year, my friends and I come up with pretty elaborate pranks that we pull on each other. Last year I called my friend in Alabama and told her that I tried out to be the next Bucky Badger mascot and that I got the job,"" said UW-Madison sophomore and avid jokester Tracey Ogrin. ""To make sure she bought it, I had another friend tell her a week before April Fools Day that I was thinking about trying out and then when I told her she believed me. I'm still waiting for her to get back at me.""
Although April Fools' Day is generally thought of as an American holiday, it has traditionally been a day when people all over the world play pranks on one another, all in the holiday spirit. It is an international holiday, where the general tone of the day is trouble and merriment.
""It's a fun day because you can play tricks on people and then wait to see what they will try to do back to you. I usually know when people are lying to me, though, so I catch them before they can say 'April Fools',"" Ogrin said. ""It can be sort of like revenge, but not in a mean sense. Of course it's always funny and usually doesn't get too out of hand, unless you want it to.""
According to the Web site http://wilstar.com/holidays/aprilfool.htm, the ""first April Fools' Day"" is not known, but historians have traced the origination back to 16th century France. Before 1582, the New Year was celebrated by pagans just after the first day of spring on March 25, and celebration continued until April 1st. At this time, Pope Gregory wanted to rid the Christian world of its pagan rituals and decided to change the date of New Years to Jan. 1.
When Charles IX of France officially changed the new calendar, called the Gregorian calendar, the news of the calendar change was not quickly dispersed to the masses and some people did not find out for years because of the slow or nonexistent communication at this time. Others simply refused to accept the new calendar as their own. These people were called ""fools"" by those who knew and accepted that the date of New Year's had been changed, and these ""fools"" were often made the butt of practical jokes.
The first of April has since carried on the tradition of making people close to us the gullible victims of deception and tricks.
April Fools' Day is an annual event that has been celebrated for centuries around the world. The day may be called different names by various countries and cultures, but they all occur at the same time of year.
In Scotland, April 1st is known as ""April Gowk Day""'a gowk being another name for a ""cuckoo bird""'and is celebrated for two days.
The second day is called ""Taily Day"" and is where the idea for the ""kick me"" sign is thought to have originated due to the focus of jokes on people's backsides.
In France, the first of April is called ""Poisson d'Avril"" because children go around taping paper fish'""poisson""'to each other's backs and when someone discovers the fish, they yell ""Poisson d'Avril!""
In England, the holiday is celebrated as ""All Fools' Day,"" where practical jokes are played only in the morning and the ""fool"" is called a ""noodle.""
India has its own version of the holiday. People in India celebrate the feast of Huli, and the last day, March 31, is reserved for tricks, pranks and sending people to do false errands, much like the American version of April Fools' Day.
In Portugal, the country's version of April Fools' Day is celebrated on the Sunday or Monday before Lent begins. Here, the common joke is to throw flour on one's friends throughout the day.
The day's spirit of trickery and mischief is not only universal, but has withstood the test of time because, as Mark Twain once said, ""the first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.\
