April fools

April fools

Do you know why did people call it April fools ?

Open Ended

If you’ve ever been pranked on April Fools’ Day, you may

wonder how this tradition started. Well, you’re not alone. No one knows for sure how April Fools’ Day began. But the most likely explanation has to do with the calendar.

No, that’s not an April Fools’ Day joke. People used to celebrate New Years Day on April 1st. Just

like today, people would have big parties to celebrate. Over time, the calendar changed and so did the date for New Years. In the 1500s, the new calendar marked New Years Day as January 1st. But because there was no Internet or other means to spread the word, the news traveled slowly by word of mouth. It took a while for everyone to hear about the change, and even then some people resisted it. They continued to celebrate New Years on April 1st. These people were given the nickname “April fools”.

Define the red coloured words in your own way ?

People following the new calendar played tricks on the “April fools” by sending them on “fool’s errands”. They had the “April fools” deliver invitations to big New Year’s celebrations that weren’t really going to happen. In France, “April fools” were called “Poisson d'Avril”, which is French for “April Fish”.

What's meant by errands here?

This began because people thought fish were easy to catch since they could be fooled into taking the bait on a hook. Children would tag a paper fish on a person’s

can you summarise this part in your own way ?

Not everyone is convinced that this is actually how the

tradition of April Fools’ Day began. People have tried to pinpoint the exact date of the first April Fool’s Day, but this only led to more pranks. A professor from Boston University pranked a reporter by making up a story about a court jester who said he could run the empire better than the king. The jester was made king for a day on April 1st.

What do the different coloured words mean ?

This turned out to be a big April Fools’ Day trick because the reporter thought the story was real.

What do you think about that person ?

Even though we aren’t sure how this tradition

began, people still celebrate April Fools’ Day by playing tricks on each other. So the next time you prank someone and yell “April Fools!”

What's the funniest prank you have ever played , been played on or even watched ?

remember that the day may actually be about the people who didn’t want to change their traditions when the new calendar was adopted. Or maybe it’s just a day to celebrate the joker in all of us.

Paraphrase this sentence in your own style .