There’s a spot on your nose!

Did you look to see? If you did, April fool! The joke is on you.

If you have a trick played on you in the United States, you are an, “April fool.” In England, you might be called a “noddy,” which means a “fool” or “simpleton.” But if you live in England, don’t try to play any tricks in the afternoon of All Fools’ Day. In England tricks are played only till noon. If you do try to play a trick in the afternoon, you will probably hear this shout:

Up the ladder and down the wall,
You’re the greatest fool of all!

In Scotland, a person is fooled by being sent on some foolish errand – such as finding a left-handed monkey wrench – is said to be “hunting the gowk.” Gowk means “cuckoo” or “simpleton.”

And in France, a person who is fooled is called poisson d’Avril, which means “April fish.” Why a “fish”? No one is quite sure. Perhaps it is because in April fish are young and easily caught. In France, as a special treat, you can buy a chocolate fish on April Fools’ Day.

The custom of playing harmless tricks on April 1 is said to have begun more than four hundred years ago. At that time, New Year’s Day was March 25. Celebrations went on through April 1, at which time people exchanged New Year’s gifts.

Then the French adopted a new calendar. New Year’s Day was switched from March 25 to January 1. This confused many people for a long time. On April 1, those who remembered the switch began to play tricks on those who forgot.

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My goofy husband decided he wasn’t going to let me sleep in as he was pretending to do. He got up and made the coffee. Then he yelled, Honey, you’re not going to believe this…” and in effect knowing it was April 1, 2010 and expecting whatever he was going to throw at me this year, I said, “I’m not falling for your April Fool’s joke and he said, “Okay, but your shed fell down. That’s about right isn’t it?” Knowing he meant the greenhouse that my son-in-law moved for me yesterday, and not our shed which had been standing for 10 years now, I also knew there was no way that greenhouse had fallen down. But I smelled coffee and got up to have a cup while it was fresh, so of course, he thought I fell for it. Hopefully, this will end the stupidity for the day.

I hope all of you have a wonderfully prank-filled day!

Those who have two strings to their bow may shoot stronger, but they rarely shoot straight. ~ Elizabeth I of England