The April Fish
One of the more curious April Fools' Day pranks
The April Fish is an April Fools' custom that is as interesting as it is mysterious.
Pranks
On 1 April, people all over the world will celebrate April Fools’ Day. Though it is nowehere an official holiday, almost everyone, from the smallest child to the largest media concern, will indulge in pranks simple and complex. There are hoaxes, practical jokes and fool’s errands. The idea is to keep it fun, and the occasional bad consequences are always unintentional.
There are several traditions attached to these pranks. For instance, in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, jokes can only be played before noon. If someone breaks that rule, it is he or she who is considered the fool.
Fish?
In German an April Fools’ prank is called “Aprilscherz”, in Dutch “aprilgrap”, in Danish “aprilsnar"… you get the picture. But in some places, it is called an “April Fish”: the “poisson d’Avril” in French, the “Aprilvis” in Dutch and the “Pesce d'Aprile” in Italian.
Any kind of April Fool’s prank can be called an April Fish, but often it is a very simplest prank, consisting in the attempt to attach a piece of paper cut in the shape of a fish onto someone’s back, without that person noticing. When after some time, during which the victim is the unwitting butt of the joke, he or she finds out, everyone shouts “April Fish!” Traditionally, a real dead fish was stuck onto the victim’s back, with the intention that he would eventually notice it by its smell.
The name “April Fish” is also applied to the victim of the joke. The idea is that an April fish is a very young fish, and thus easily “caught”.
Origin?
Another, though less plausible explanation of the April Fish is that, in April, the sun exits the zodiacal sign of the fish. One can also speculate on the connection between the April Fish and the Easter Fast, when only the eating of fish is allowed. And the reference with the “ichtus”, the symbol of the fish for Jesus Christ, who fished for souls, too seems evident, but the relation with joking becomes quite far-fetched at this point.
