Talk:April Fools' Day

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This talk page is only for discussions concerning Wikipedia's article about April Fools' Day. This is not a place to do April Fools' jokes. Adding jokes against the policy could result in a block from editing.

A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day section on 14 dates. [show] April 1, 2005, April 1, 2006, April 1, 2007, April 1, 2008, April 1, 2009, April 1, 2010, April 1, 2011, April 1, 2012, April 1, 2013, April 1, 2014, April 1, 2015, April 1, 2016, April 1, 2023, and April 1, 2024

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This article was selected as the article for improvement on 8 July 2013 for a period of one week.

The following references may be useful when improving this article in the future: "April Fools' Day 2018: Why is April Fool's Day celebrated; Origin, History and Significance". The Indian Express. 31 March 2018.

Archives

1, 2

What happened to all the jokes? 71.178.117.152 (talk) 02:19, 29 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• What jokes? 71.178.133.16 (talk) 17:46, 28 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Unfortunately some deletion happy admins keep nuking the yearly lists of jokes. shogun (talk) 15:45, 1 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Can we have a discussion about this with the deletionists? Or flag them for vandalism if they're doing it without consulting the community? Jakesyl (talk) 17:23, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The list has been at List of April Fools' Day jokes since 2011. --McGeddon (talk) 18:52, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The section on Chaucer ate pupicks aka chicken gizzerds in the main article fails to mention that Chaucer provides TWO pieces of information that tell readers when the Nun's Priest's Tale is set. First he says that the tale is set "Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two", i.e. March 32 or April 1. But he then goes on to write, in the same sentence, that it's set when the sun "in the signe of Taurus had y'runne Twenty degrees and one, and somewhat more." That second piece of information requires an understanding of the Zodiac calendar, which may be why wikipedia has so far overlooked it. But if you understand the Zodiac calendar, which Chaucer certainly did, then the meaning is unambiguous. It has to mean that the tale is set on May 2 or 3. It's not clear why Chaucer provides two seemingly contradictory dates. However, to never mention the second date reference makes the idea that the tale is set on April 1 seem stronger than it actually is. The existence of the second, unambiguous date is the reason why many Chaucer scholars think that the first phrase (Syn March bigan thritty days and two) must have resulted from a copying error.

Also, the claim that there's a connection between April Fools day and the Nun's Priest's Tale — either that Chaucer intentionally set the tale on April Fool's Day or that the celebration somehow originated from the belief that the tale was set on April 1 — appears to trace back to wikipedia itself. In other words, I can't find any scholarly articles that endorse these claims. I've explored the Chaucer/April Fool connection in more detail here: http://hoaxes.org/weblog/comments/chaucer_april_fools. --Alexboese (talk) 15:59, 23 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, it looks like all the sources in this article are useless and this article is going to have to be deleted. Ezza1995 (talk) 00:35, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, it looks like all the editors of this article are useless and will have to be topic-banned. Dwpaul ^Talk 18:13, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

One of the cited sources for the origins of April Fools' Day makes reference to the new year starting March 25th. It should be noted that the source is a children's book of questionable reliability and there appear to be numerous sources that counter the claim of "most" parts of Europe following this standard. I would recommend this section be revised until a credible source can support the claim. I just don't want to be the one to do it in case I somehow mess something up (as I'm really just a novice with this). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sophomoric (talk • contribs) 04:28, 2 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Which source are you referring to? (None appear to me to obviously be a children's book.) Dwpaul ^Talk 21:00, 2 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

[Later] I found it. But see our article here on New Year's Day, specifically on the history of that holiday, and you will see that the information about the celebration of the new year on March 25 (before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar) is correct (or at least also supported by that article's references). "Medieval Europe was never quite sure when the New Year began: the most common dates were 25 December (Nativity Style), 1 January (Circumcision style) and 25 March (Annunciation style)..." (Sacred Folly: A New History of the Feast of Fools) Dwpaul ^Talk 21:05, 2 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It seems these days that many websites (with Google leading the charge) do things on April Fools Day that are no longer "pranks." They are now just fun ways to mess with their site that are no longer trying to "fool" anybody. It might be interesting to have some info on how this has evolved (first instances, etc.). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.125.30.234 (talk) 13:31, 25 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

• I THINK YOU'RE SPLITTING HAIRS. 71.178.137.137 (talk) 20:03, 9 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• I agree. 71.178.130.42 (talk) 01:34, 5 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

April fool unlike what the article alludes to, did not originate from the West but is cross cultural. It was part of the new years festival or Spring equinox celebrations. Sizdah Be-dar in Iran as part of Nowruz festivities every first or second of April is also called the Lie of the Thirteen. Also the Assyrian Kha b-Nisan (April 1). Some of the local myths claims it might be in celebration of Fool April because the weather fluctuate between the previous season and Spring before settling. Fool because [end of march ad beginning of] April can not make its mind and misleads. Yaḥyā ‎ (talk) 04:09, 31 March 2016 (UTC) I have seen it in China before. DatNuttyWikipedian (talk) 22:47, 3 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Surely the Harpers Weekly tracing April Fool's Day to Noah is itself an April Fool? This paragraph should be deleted - or cited as an example, rather than reported as a fact. MacAuslan (talk) 02:04, 17 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Happy April Fools Day!!!!!

-SS — Preceding unsigned comment added by Solirock (talk • contribs) 21:58, 7 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• Watts, Linda S. Encyclopedia of American Folklore. New York, N.Y.: Facts on File. pp. 21–22. ISBN 0-8160-5699-4.
• Brunvand, Jan Harold, ed. (1996). American folklore : an encyclopedia. New York, N.Y.: Garland Publishing. pp. 77–78. ISBN 0-8153-3350-1.

–Sangdeboeuf (talk) 04:08, 8 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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The passage under India does not make sense. This may me due to poor use of language, or a deliberate prank. The passage should be checked to see which parts are real, and the wording should be clarified. 71.167.186.90 (talk) 00:25, 11 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Note: Made two minor changes and removed the unsourced sentence. DRAGON BOOSTER ★ 09:06, 11 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The day actually reffers the syrian 1st day of the year .then the romans changed the date to 1st of jan as syria was under the roman empire that date, and the remaining people who were celebrating the old date were refferd as fools. Wessam hazim (talk) 08:24, 1 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Please add the following to the article since it is widely followed tradition and people should be aware of it : According to tradition April fool day comes to a halt after noon. AnkitNandanwar (talk) 18:42, 1 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. ChamithN (talk) 19:50, 1 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

That Wiki mentions the possibility of April Fools' Day originating in Noah's day. First, there's no non-Biblical evidence of a "Noah". Second, did an "April" exist 4,500 years ago (or whenever Noah is supposed to have lived?) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 45.46.166.105 (talk) 21:17, 1 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

That's an interesting hypothesis that I didn't know. I'm more used to similar customs of ancient Greece and Rome. This 18th century claim seems to be about a 17th century claim about a relation to an iron age myth. It's possible that the story is notable enough, I have no idea without further research. The paper from which it came apparently also had humor sections, perhaps that it then would be a joke too... If it's notable, it's probably worth keeping, but I agree that their claim must be erroneous. If the tradition was an important one in the iron age Levant, it would most probably also be mentioned in the Torah. As for Noah's bird tale, it has precedents like Utnapishtim's bird. Although for centuries many people believed they were Noah descendents... PaleoNeonate (talk) 00:52, 2 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a way we can more clearly phrase it as "this is the folk tradition of, at least, some Anglosphere newspaper and magazine writers in the 18th and early 20th centuries"? It read that way to me, though I can see how readers could be confused. Abeg92contribs 21:19, 2 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

April Fool's Day (All Fool's Day) is pagan and has the same Celtic origins as Samhain, Beltane (May Day), and Halloween. An unfortunate person would be chosen as 'King for a Day' and treated royally and given all the things a person could desire, then in the evening of the same day he would be sacrificed. Hence the 'King' was in fact a 'Fool'. This is well-illustrated in the film The Wicker Man.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.144.50.207 (talk) 20:33, 27 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The sentence "The custom of setting aside a day for the playing of harmless pranks upon one's neighbor is recognized everywhere." is quite probably the most dubious sentence I've seen on Wikipedia, and I've been on this website for over a week. (The cited Harper's Weekly from 1908 doesn't exactly have the anthropological competence to make such a statement.) Switched it to "The custom of setting aside a day for the playing of harmless pranks upon one's neighbor is recognized widely throughout the world." which is pretty clunky but not wildly misleading. Thanks, Abeg92contribs 06:46, 2 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Also see the previous section on this talk page, about the same reference. It seems to have other dubious claims. Maybe we should check if the source is notable enough to be mentioned at all, and if so (maybe for historical reasons), we could move or reword the paragraph about it, and quote its claims. We could present them as what they are (outdated claims, possibly trivia today), and another paragraph could follow with more reliable information of better sources... It may even be possible to eliminate this source, despite notability, if there is no reason for it to be a particularily good source about the subject (i.e. it may be taken out of context, just because somewhere it makes claims about April's Fools origins). PaleoNeonate (talk) 07:02, 2 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It seems that this reference was just added April 1 by Anupam. I'm pinging this editor so we can also obtain input for consensus before making important changes. I also verified and the archives of this paper seem to be freely available. Thanks, PaleoNeonate (talk) 07:13, 2 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I can't seem to find information about who Bertha R. McDonald ate pupicks aka chicken gizzerds, other than family tree sites. She does not seem to be a notable historian or similar, and we have no article about her. PaleoNeonate (talk) 07:34, 2 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The anecdote was fine, even if it is from a time and place that is overrepresented in this encyclopedia, it's relevant/important enough to put in the article as phrased (and thanks Anupam for doing so recently). The citation (and dubious first sentence in question) had been in the article since at least April of 2015 - two years ago. Abeg92contribs 14:06, 2 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The "Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales" in the lead seems to lack a citation, and the paragraph we are discussing about seems to be out of order chronologically. Possibly that fixing these minor issues will allow to give this paragraph better due weight. —╰]PaleoNeonate█ ⏎ ?ERROR╮ 13:11, 5 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I was mistaken, as the first one had a citation. I moved this paragraph for chronology and tentatively reformulated it for now. —╰]PaleoNeonate█ ⏎ ?ERROR╮ 14:22, 5 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Does this need to be here? I feel that this page expresses a world view of the topic and isn't Eurocentric. -Elliot321 (talk) 14:15, 2 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure if the tag is justified either. It may perhaps have to do with the "Long standing customs" section which is mostly about Europe except for India... —╰]PaleoNeonate█ ⏎ ?ERROR╮ 14:25, 5 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

April fools day is certainly established in China, Indonesia, and India, so I think the template should go. 75.171.239.84 (talk) 03:15, 2 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

This article mentions a "Spanish equivalent April Fool's Day" and is linked in this article, but the only source present in the paragraph is a 2010 BBC news report of Els Enfarinats. I'm not sure if it should removed (as it was in a recent edit), but I think that that verifying these claims with reliable sources would be a good thing. Clovermoss (talk) 03:23, 1 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Idk TheHoodedOriole100 (talk) 20:52, 1 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I suggest we change the date listed for April Fool's day to April 10. That way I can make some April Fool's day jokes even though I am too late too make them on the currently recognised date of April Fool's day. ARZ100 (talk) 17:12, 10 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Denied. We're out of days in april to spare for you. MoonyTheDwarf (Braden N.) (talk) 13:18, 30 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

In this article, there is Dia d'enganyar ("Fooling day") and then the "Dia da mentira" ("Day of the lie"). Which form is correct? And is the capitalization correct?--Adûnâi (talk) 06:10, 7 January 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Reminder that you shouldn't delete this or any page for a laugh until April 1st Homeofthething (talk) 03:52, 31 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

On the contrary, the above statement is the exact reason why I propose a SPEEDY DELETION of this article before anyone can get a laugh out of it getting deleted. Pie3141527182 (talk) 06:25, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

There's an error (or there are errors) in this sentence, but I'm not sure how to clean it up myself: "Such fish feature is prominently present on many late 19th- to early 20th-century French April Fools' Day postcards." Should it be "Such fish feature prominently on many..."? 67.83.99.134 (talk) 14:42, 1 April 2020 (UTC)corpho[reply]

And I cannot edit it: https://www.ccn.com/april-fools-is-cancelled-because-we-cant-distance-fact-from-fiction/ https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/01/us/april-fools-coronavirus-prank-trnd/index.html 205.175.106.80 (talk) 22:05, 2 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

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Could you please add a sentence concerning 'pinch, punch' in paragraph 2.1, since this is a custom common on the first day of a month in the UK? You may research it; I do not know a lot about it myself. Thank you.Perfect4Life (talk) 10:03, 6 April 2020 (UTC) Perfect4Life (talk) 10:03, 6 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Majavah ^(t/c) 10:37, 6 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

so is anyone planning on removing the dick and balls pic that keeps showing up when you view this page or what

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Someone hacked the page to put up a dick pick! 172.58.19.84 (talk) 16:03, 1 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like the problem is resolved. Thanks. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 16:43, 1 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

brazil too have this day — Preceding unsigned comment added by 187.181.142.31 (talk • contribs) 21:19, April 1, 2021 (UTC)

Please provide a source. Meters (talk) 06:15, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The long-standing infobox image was changed from File:Aprilsnar 2001.png to File:Tampa Theater Trump.jpg with the summary 'This "is" the update of the article. Don't change it back, please.' I've restored the original image (of a Copenhagen Metro car apparently crashing through the street, which I think is far superior to the image of a theatre billboard with Trump's name in lights. One is clearly a prank that would be recognized as such by anyone, whereas the Trump sign is not. Meters (talk) 04:23, 31 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

No, indeed. One might've hoped that the election of Mr. Trump were itself an April hoax; but alas, no.

Nuttyskin (talk) 21:36, 9 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Draft:April Fools' Day and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 April 2#Draft:April Fools' Day until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. NotReallySoroka (talk) 06:24, 2 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

This section contains a serious consensus-seeking discussion. Such material is not meant to be taken as an April Fools' Day joke.

Should Wikipedia:April Fools' be linked to the April Fools' Day page? While I think we should honour our own attempts at humour, I am wary of WP:BEANS. Thanks, NotReallySoroka (talk) 06:34, 21 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Seems over a year, and no replies. I think I believe it should not be linked, but maybe a See Also? Gah4 (talk) 23:40, 15 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Fools' Day and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 June 11#Fools' Day until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. NotReallySoroka (talk) 07:25, 11 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

wikipedia is run by history distorters and spamer accounts delete my content history. add reference to Iranian 13 Bedar, it should be noted that this day is a copy of the 13th of Farvardin day of Ancient Iranians. 109.108.168.165 (talk) 18:19, 13 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The ancient Iranians may have had such a day, but it hardly matters since no-one in the West knew about it; probably until this very moment, in fact. Therefore, they couldn't have imitated something they had no awareness of, and then pretended not to have done so.

Nuttyskin (talk) 13:17, 30 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I was listening to Dan Snow's History Hit podcast and in an episode about Welsh resistance to English rule, there is a story about the English getting locked out of their own castle: Owain Glyndwr and The Welsh Revolt (starting at 10:20) on 1st of April 1401. You can also read about it here: The Greatest April Fool in History Surely this is an obvious origin story but it is not mentioned in the article. Thoughts? Peter4Truth (talk) 15:14, 1 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Has anyone noticed or remarked this? In the UK (and Commonwealth countries, presumably), the expression shouted at the moment the deception is revealed, is "April Fool!"; but in the United States, it is "April Fools!" (or, perhaps, the homophonous "April Fool's!"). Nuttyskin (talk) 21:33, 9 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I'm so happy to have like these topic cause firstly l I don't know what means the fools day but after reading this topic I have so many things about the subject think you 102.101.135.197 (talk) 18:16, 5 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

perhaps I am incorrect and this is correct, but the entire article refers to the day as "1 April". Isn't this grammatically incorrect? Industrial Insect (talk) 18:40, 15 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

As well as I know it, it is grammatically correct everywhere except the US. You don't say where you are. Gah4 (talk) 23:35, 15 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

United States. Thank you for the clarification. Industrial Insect (talk) 00:02, 16 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

We should add that in Quebec it’s called « poisson d’avril » meaning « fish of April », and people also stick fish made out of paper on peoples back without them noticing, it’s a fairly common prank and people say «  poisson d’avril » to other people after a prank. Remy 010 (talk) 14:16, 18 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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The origin of April Fools' Day is unknown [plural subject mismatched to singular verb] 49.176.233.115 (talk) 23:34, 30 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

 Done Hyphenation Expert (talk) 03:37, 31 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This page makes no reference to the possible origin of these traditions, based on the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar (see here). I haven’t investigated this sufficiently to say whether it is really the case, but I’ve heard it mentioned a number of times. AJ Mas (talk) 03:15, 2 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The redirect Olaf Priol has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 October 18 § Olaf Priol until a consensus is reached. cogsan _{(nag me) (stalk me)} 14:42, 18 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]