Poisson d'Avril - April Fool's Day in France & Paper Fish Tradition
Friday, April 01, 2011
It's April Fish Day in France and Smokey's hunting for a live one... Smokey Dear, you still don't get it, do you? But then, I don't understand how the French got "fish" from "fool" either ("fool ish"?).
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Poisson d'Avril! (pwah soh(n) dah vreel)
: April Fool!
Audio File: listen to Jean-Marc pronounce the words in the following sentence: Download MP3 or Wav
Attention à votre dos... aujourd'hui, c'est "Poisson D'Avril"!
Watch your back... today's is "April 'Fish' Day"!
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE... by Kristin Espinasse
Today is April Fool's Day and all across France people are minding their backs... lest a sneaky jester attempt The Paper Fish Attack!
In addition to inventing histoires (and oh, by the way, this is the very last "word-a-day"!), the French will be fashioning paper cutouts (shaped like un poisson) in time to tape them on some aloof one's back. (So soyez prudents and be on your guard!)
At the venerable age of thirteen, Jackie tells me she is too old for the traditional fish cutout, that she and her friends will be honoring the tradition by taping embarrassing notes to each others dos:"Tapez-moi" and "Je suis nul(le)" rate among the most popular signs.
I think the blagueurs would do well to expand their repertoire: in place of "Hit Me!" and "I'm a Dork!", they might embarrass their targets by tacking on one of these messages:
"J'ai besoin de tendresse!"
I need love!
"J'adore les guili-guili!"
I love tickles!
"Chantez-moi une chanson d'amour"
Sing me a love song!
Chuchotez dans mes oreilles, SVP!
Whisper in my ears, please!
Voilà. Up to you to procure a roll of tape and a pair of ciseaux in time to design your own Fish crimes! Colleagues, teachers, bus drivers, babies, grandparents... all are fair game today!
Le Coin Commentaires
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French Vocabulary... followed by Related "April Fool" Terms
une histoire = a "story" (as in "tall story")
un poisson = fish
le dos = back
Tapez-moi! = Hit me!
Je suis nul(le)! = I'm a zero!
blagueur/blagueuse m/f = jokers, jokesters
Related Terms on April Fools'
se gausser = to mock
un canular = a hoax
faire un canular à quelqu'un = to play a hoax on someone
une plaisanterie = a joke
accrocher un poisson = to stick a fish (on another's back)
la victime du canular = the victim of the prank
Back in the day... Jackie made these when she was 8-years-old. Read about them, click here - you'll also read about the roof tile thief!
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