Fool's day
занимательные факты по английскому языку (6 класс) на тему

April Fools’ Day is celebrated in Great Britain and in the US like in France, Russia and many other countries on April 1 every year. Unlike other holidays April Fools’ Day is «for-fun-only». Nobody buys gifts or takes their beloved ones out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It’s simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for he may be the next April Fool!

In England and Scotland April fooling became popular during the 1700s, however the origin of the custom still is unclear. There are several theories about it.

One theory is that in Europe, until the sixteenth century, March 25thwas New Year’s Day. Celebration lasted up to the 1st of April when people used to give presents to one another. In 1564, Charles IX, the French king, adopted the Gregorian calendar and made January 1st New Year’s Day. Those, who were against this, continued giving presents on April 1st. In the following years, those who insisted on celebrating the New Year at its old time were mocked as fools and people would play pranks and tricks on them and called them `Poisson d’avril ‘, meaning April Fish in French. This must have been so much fun that it spread all over the world and people played tricks on everyone, not just the people who didn’t accept the new calendar.

Other people say that the holiday is just a continuation of a festival in honour of the Celtic god of Mirth but the most popular belief is that it’s a reaction to the change in season and the start of spring. Whatever its origin, making fools of people on this day remains one of the mostflourishing of all British customs.

April Fool jokes usually involve persuading someone to do something silly, like looking for hen’s teeth, or saying something , like «Your shoe’s untied, or I accidentally stepped on your glasses!»  Setting a roommate’s alarm clock back an hour is a common prank.

However, you can only play April Fools on peoplebefore midday – at midday the fun must stop or thetrickster is told:

‘April Fool’s Day is past and gone,

Your’re the fool and I am none.‘

or

«April Fool’s Day’s past and gone,

You’re the fool for making one.»

Scotland has its own April Fool’s Day traditions. In this part of the UK the holiday is actually celebrated for two days. The second day is devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the body. The tradition of sticking a «Kick Me« sign on someone’s back is believed to originate from here.

A small vocabulary

vigilant – бдительный

origin – происхождение

to mock – высмеивать

prank – розыгрыш

to spread – распространяться

to play tricks/pranks on smb – подшучивать

to make fools of people – одурачивать людей

in honour of — в честь

flourishing – процветающий

untied – расшнурованный

to play April Fools on people – подшучивать над людьми на 1 апреля

trickster – обманщик

posterior region of the body – задняя часть тела

«Kick Me» – ударь меня/пни меня