What are the rules and customs of April Fools’ Day?
April Fools’ Day is a celebration of mischief and misbehaviour, but it's not a complete free-for-all. There are rules about how it should be observed. Unwritten rules, but ones that nevertheless hold the weight of hundreds of years of tradition. And even for those who do not plan to play pranks, there are customs about what are appropriate activities to engage in on the day.
Do No Harm (and nothing illegal)
The first of April is a time for lighthearted humor, and pranks perpetrated on the day should reflect this. Ideally an April Fools’ Day prank should be funny to everyone involved when it's all over. At least, that's the goal.
The essence of an April first prank is to fool a victim. Therefore, pranks that involve no deception are considered out of place.
Traditional April fool pranks include gluing a coin to the pavement, putting salt in a sugar bowl, and tricking someone into believing their shoelaces are untied.
It's considered acceptable for April Fools’ Day pranks to cause some inconvenience to their victims. Making people feel embarrassed or irritated is okay. Wasting people's time — okay. Making them do some work to undo the prank — also okay. After all, the entire point of April Fools’ Day is to make people look foolish.
However, inconvenience should never turn into actual violence or harm. This includes causing serious psychological harm. No one should get hurt. Nor should property be permanently damaged. Nor can April 1 be used as an excuse to engage in any illegal activity.
No Pranks After Noon
This rule appears to be peculiar to English-speaking countries. The custom is that pranks can only be perpetrated until twelve o'clock noon. After that time, anyone who tries to play a prank is himself (or herself) the fool.
The earliest reference to this rule is found in the British journal Notes and Queries (Aug 11, 1855) by a correspondent who noted that it was a tradition in the county of Hampshire that those who played pranks after twelve o'clock on April 1 would be greeted by the following verse:
April fool's gone past,
You're the biggest fool at last;
When April fool comes again,
You'll be the biggest fool then.
The global reach of the internet has provided a new incentive to make spoof announcements as early as possible (thus staying true to the 'before noon' rule, even if unwittingly), because if the joke is released too late, it may unfairly confuse people in time zones where it's no longer April 1. This happened on April 1, 2013 when the actress Lindsay Lohan waited until 10:35 pm (pacific time zone) to tweet that she was pregnant, which she intended as a joke. But her attempt at humour was widely criticized because many of her followers were on the east coast, or in Europe, where it was already April 2. Therefore, they assumed the news was real.
Do No Harm (and nothing illegal)
The first of April is a time for lighthearted humor, and pranks perpetrated on the day should reflect this. Ideally an April Fools’ Day prank should be funny to everyone involved when it's all over. At least, that's the goal.
The essence of an April first prank is to fool a victim. Therefore, pranks that involve no deception are considered out of place.
Traditional April fool pranks include gluing a coin to the pavement, putting salt in a sugar bowl, and tricking someone into believing their shoelaces are untied.
It's considered acceptable for April Fools’ Day pranks to cause some inconvenience to their victims. Making people feel embarrassed or irritated is okay. Wasting people's time — okay. Making them do some work to undo the prank — also okay. After all, the entire point of April Fools’ Day is to make people look foolish.
However, inconvenience should never turn into actual violence or harm. This includes causing serious psychological harm. No one should get hurt. Nor should property be permanently damaged. Nor can April 1 be used as an excuse to engage in any illegal activity.
No Pranks After Noon
This rule appears to be peculiar to English-speaking countries. The custom is that pranks can only be perpetrated until twelve o'clock noon. After that time, anyone who tries to play a prank is himself (or herself) the fool.
The earliest reference to this rule is found in the British journal Notes and Queries (Aug 11, 1855) by a correspondent who noted that it was a tradition in the county of Hampshire that those who played pranks after twelve o'clock on April 1 would be greeted by the following verse:
April fool's gone past,
You're the biggest fool at last;
When April fool comes again,
You'll be the biggest fool then.
The global reach of the internet has provided a new incentive to make spoof announcements as early as possible (thus staying true to the 'before noon' rule, even if unwittingly), because if the joke is released too late, it may unfairly confuse people in time zones where it's no longer April 1. This happened on April 1, 2013 when the actress Lindsay Lohan waited until 10:35 pm (pacific time zone) to tweet that she was pregnant, which she intended as a joke. But her attempt at humour was widely criticized because many of her followers were on the east coast, or in Europe, where it was already April 2. Therefore, they assumed the news was real.