Learn all about April fool's day
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| Hello, and welcome to the "Culture Class—Holidays in the Czech Republic" series at CzechClass101.com. In this series, we explore the history and traditions behind Czech holidays and observances. I’m Michael, and you're listening to Lesson 20, April Fool's Day—apríl. |
| April Fool's Day, which falls on April 1 every year, is simply known as apríl in Czech. On this day, every Czech citizen makes fun, or udělat si legraci, of those around them. This habit can be seen throughout Europe. |
| Now, before we go into more detail, do you know the answer to the following question? |
| What does it mean to "fool" someone on April 1? |
| If you don't already know, you’re about to find out, so stay tuned! |
| On the morning of April 1, the majority of Czechs get up with one thought: to fool someone that day. And there’s always some unfortunate person, or nešťastník, that gets fooled eventually. There are usually a number of people who don’t realize it’s April 1, and in the end, they all have a hearty laugh. |
| This holiday is celebrated throughout Europe, although no one really knows how it came about. According to one theory, it began in France in the sixteenth century when France transitioned to the Gregorian calendar and people mocked those who didn’t know about the change from April 1 to Jan 1. According to another theory, the holiday has its origins in a Roman feast custom, in which court jesters took over the government for the emperor, or císař, on this one day. |
| Public media participates strongly on April Fool's Day, so on that day you may even see fake news on TV (v televizi) or in the newspaper (v novinách). Of course, if you think about it, this isn’t too different from every other day. |
| One such joke was by the leading news source Czech Weekly’s article that said flour mixed with pepper has strong hallucinogenic effects. Needless to say, this aroused great attention among the people. |
| Now it's time to answer our quiz question— |
| What does it mean to "fool" someone on April 1? |
| To fool someone on April 1 means to really confuse them, or to make fun of him or her by convincing them of something that isn’t true, or in Czech, pravda. It’s best to start fooling people early in the morning, before the victim realizes that it’s April 1. |
| Well listeners, how was this lesson? Did you learn something new? |
| Have you ever fooled anybody on April Fool's Day? |
| Leave a comment telling us on CzechClass101.com, and I’ll see you in the next lesson! |
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