• Share
• Email
• Sharebar

• Share
• Email

I know, I know, April Fools‘ Day was last week, but the French version is just too funny not to mention.

In France, April Fools’ Day is known as poisson d’avril, or the fish of April.

Where we’re more apt to employ whoopi cushions and plastic spiders, French youth have a different tradition: schoolchildren will stick a paper fish on someone’s back, hoping not to be discovered.  (Using the old ‘kick me’ sign tactic of a pat on the back and saying something along the lines of,  ‘We’re such good friends!’ seems to be an effective method.)

When the paper fish is discovered, the perpetrator yells, “Poisson d’avril!“  April Fish!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

"Do you think he notices?"

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This farce (prank) is most common among young kids.  Adults are still prone to coming up with their own blagues and plaisanteries (jokes).

April Fools’ (or Fish) Day is, in fact, a French tradition dating back to the (at least) 16th Century.  No one knows exactly how it began, though there are several theories.

According to one legend, until the 1564, the New Year was celebrated in April.  The then-king of France, Charles IX, made the rather arbitrary decision (as kings were wont to do) to to set the New Year on January 1st.  Okay, it wasn’t totally arbitrary, it did have something to do with the days getting longer, but still.  It was then said that anyone who still celebrated the New Year on April 1st was a fool.  However, references to poisson d’avril have been cited as far back as the 14th century, most notably in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, so this rather regal theory may be debunked.

The tradition could also be associated with Lent, during which the consumption of meat is forbidden.  As fish was and is often consumed in its place, and as April 1st falls near the end of Lent, people (perhaps driven a bit mad by over consumption) began playing fish-related pranks.  One such jest may was to offer someone a fake fish.  Falling for the prank made one a fool.

The beginning of April also falls under the zodiac sign of the Pisces, the fish.  Pisces is the twelfth and final sign of the zodiac calendar, marking the end of the year and supporting the first theory of a New Year being celebrated around that time.

In any case, the origins are a bit fuzzy, but they are certainly French.  Now’s the time to start planning for next year.  Put away your super glue, your rubber rat and that fake pile of poo.  Let next April Fools’ Day be April Fish Day everywhere!