April 1 is known as April Fools’ Day in many countries across the world, from Japan to Brazil. It’s simply a bit of fun to most but in many places certain traditions have emerged that define it for that country. If you like a practical joke, then perhaps you’d like to take a holiday to Odessa, Ukraine, where a whole festival is held around April Fools’ Day? Otherwise, simply soak up the quirky traditions that a variety of cultures perform on or around this date.

It’s difficult to pinpoint how or where April Fools’ Day began. There are several theories, many of which seem plausible and all pointing to Europe as the place where the day took on this funny meaning.

Origins in Poetry or Fishing? 

The earliest possible known reference to April 1 and playing a prank is in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”, written in the late 14th century. In the poem, a vain hen is tricked by a fox on “syn March bigan thritty dayes and two”. Readers took this as March 32, which would mean April 1. However, scholars have argued that Chaucer states the sun is “in the signe of Taurus” for the events, which could mean it was 32 days after March.

Over one hundred years later, French poet Eloy D’Amerval referred to “poisson d’avril” in 1508, the name which the French call their April Fools’ Day and some suggest that he may be recounting the events of the day.

Concrete accounts about April Fools’ Day emerged from France and Holland around this time, indicating that it may have been a northern European tradition that spread through the Celts. The fishing season began on April 1, but if a fisherman hadn’t brought back a great catch that day, sometimes they lied about how much they had caught. If they were found out, they were the fool.

While we may not know where it originates, it is certainly celebrated in many places now. It is a time that even the national media like to prank their citizens, so before calling “fake news”, remember it’s just a bit of fun!

For the jokers among you, we’ve collected some facts and fun pranks from around the world for this April Fools’ Day.

France 

Paris-France

The French shout “poisson d’avril” for April Fools’ Day. Children draw and make paper fish at school, and people stick them to each other’s backs for fun. If you stop by any patisserie, you’ll find fish-shaped treats to tempt you.

The French media love to catch the unsuspecting public out with their own April Fools’ jokes. In 1986, Le Parisien newspaper ran a story about moving the Eiffel Tower to the site of the new Disneyland Paris. They added credibility to the story by saying that a new Olympic stadium would be built on the site that the iron masterpiece had left.

Last year, when the coronavirus pandemic had much of Europe under full lockdown, there were many news articles about nature reclaiming the streets. So, the Twitter team for the town of Beaulieu-sur-Mer had a little fun by posting some giraffes who were apparently roaming the streets of their town.

Embrace the French joie-de-vivre onLuxury Gold’s French Vogue tour. 

Italy 

Venice- Italy

Despite sharing a 515-kilometer border, the Italians and French have distinct traditions belonging to each country. However, the Italian name for April Fools’ Day is similar – Pesce d’Aprile. In Italy, the most common prank is taping a paper fish to someone’s back, the same as in France. The Italians make a game of it, where everyone in the room is asked who has seen the Pesce d’Aprile? Of course it takes some time for the person wearing the fish to realise!

There are some superb examples of the Italian media playing tricks on the public on April 1. In 1961, Milan’s “La Notte” newspaper reported that all horses would need to be fitted for signalling and brake lights for riding through the streets and surrounding countryside. Some people brought their horses to mechanics with the instructions to do so.

Join in the jokes on the Ultimate Italy tour in April next year.

Sweden 

Sweden

If you’re visiting Sweden around April 1, then you should learn one phrase “April, april dun dumma sill, jag kan lura dig vart jag vill,”. It means “April, April, you silly herring, I can fool you anywhere I want to.” Whenever the person who has been pranked realizes the jokes on them, you must say this, or the April Fool is incomplete.

In 1965 an unknown prankster delivered leaflets throughout Stockholm claiming that the water company would soon switch off the water. Households were encouraged to fill up their bathtubs and as many containers as possible to store water. The culprit of this prank was never discovered. In 2004, a Swedish newspaper reported that mobile phone owners could access 3G simply by shaking their phones – that was probably funny to watch on the day.

England 

London Guards

The one thing to remember on April Fools’ Day in England is that you must play the joke before noon, or else the joke is on you! Presumably this is to catch people out before they even realise the date.

The British media commonly take part in pranking on April Fools’ Day. In 1957, the broadcaster BBC brought in a special report about a record spaghetti crop in Switzerland, even showing Swiss workers pulling noodles from the trees.

The cutest April Fools’ joke came from Cambridgeshire police force, who introduced their drug sniffer bunny Benni to the world via Twitter.

Scotland  

Just north of the border, the Scots used to have two days for playing jokes and pranks on friends and neighbors. April 1 was called Huntigowk day, where gowk meant foolish person. The gowk would be handed a sealed message to bring to someone, that read “Dinna laugh, dinna smile, hunt the gowk another mile.”  On receiving the message, the recipient would tell the gowk to deliver another sealed message to someone else, which read the same. This would continue until the gowk realised there was no message at all and he had been tricked. April 2 was a continuation of festivities called Tailie day, where tails would be pinned on people’s backs. The “kick me” that you stick to someone’s back can be traced back to Tailie day.

Discover the great wit of British noblemen on the British Royale tour.

India

April Fools’ Day has been around for centuries in India, as a result of British influence. It has always been known as a day for light hearted joking, where children were allowed play small pranks without getting into trouble for them. These included things like replacing sugar with salt for tea or cooking, causing frustration to their parents.

More recently, the younger generations now post pranks on social media, such as making up silly news stories or trying to catch out their friends with jokes. It is not as widely celebrated as elsewhere, but many children enjoy the fun of the day.

Ukraine, especially Odessa 

If your favorite day of the year is April Fools’ Day, then it’s worth putting a trip to Odessa to coincide with April 1 on your travel list.

Since 1973, Odessa has held the festival of Humorina around April Fools’ Day. A large parade takes place in the city center with comedians, musicians and clowns putting on performances. People dress in costume to join the parade and plentiful pranks are a given. It’s a joyous event organized by comic troupe, “Masks” who used to have a popular TV show in the country.

The city’s main buildings and monuments are often dressed in funny clothing to mark the event.

Russia 

Russian’s love to have fun on April Fools’ Day. People dream up ways to trick their friends and family, from calling up their neighbors to tell them that their car is being towed (and getting the instant reward of seeing them run outside to check) to swapping their co-worker’s desk family photo for a movie still, and wondering when they’ll notice.

Learn more Russian jokes on the Remarkable Russia tour in 2022. 

Greece 

Cyclades – Greece

The Greeks believe that there is good luck to be had from pranking people on April Fools’ Day. They believe that if you successfully play a trick on someone, that it will bring you good luck for the rest of the year. Farmers believe that a couple of good pranks will bring a bountiful harvest that year, so plenty of neighborly joking occurs on April 1.

Another belief in Greece is that any rain that falls on April 1 has healing properties, so it’s the ideal time to dance in the rain.

Brazil 

Rio de Janeiro – Brazil

In Brazil, April 1 is called “o dia das mentires”, meaning “day of lies”, so white lies are commonly told, with no harm meant. It has been celebrated in the country since 1828, when a satirical paper called A Mentira announced that the emperor and founder of Brazil, Don Pedro, had died. This could have been taken quite seriously, but Brazilians that believed it weren’t angry when they discovered the truth. They like to make light of things, because they believe it’s the solution to the ills of modern life. So, take anything you hear in Brazil on April 1 with a pinch of salt, in the spirit that it’s meant.

Embrace the belief of Brazilians on the Classic South America tour with Luxury Gold.

*Photo by Kiwihug on Unsplash

As you pack your bags for a vacation (hopefully in the near future), it’s usual to throw in a phrase book to navigate your way through a new country, or even just order a beer. However, many people have at least a few words of English, so it can be helpful to fall back on, even in countries where it’s not the official language. After all, it’s the most widely spoken language in the world. But what happens when you’re in an English-speaking country but you still don’t understand what they’re saying?

English isn’t the most straightforward language, as it happens. Many countries have put their own stamp on it, after having adapted it over the years. Different cultures have changed it to suit their accent, their customs or even melded it slightly with another lesser-spoken language. So, if you’d like a tasty snack for your luxury journey in South Africa, you’d ask for padkos (travel food), whereas in Australia, you’d ask if there was something for tea (a meal, not a drink). One reason for the variances is that there is no centralized governing body for English, unlike French, which has the Académie Française and Spanish, which is standardized by Real Academia Española. 

When you embark on a luxury journey such as Castles and Kingdoms in the UK, you may raise your eyebrows when you hear certain phrases or struggle to understand what you are being asked to do. We’ve decided to gather some frequently used words and phrases from across the English-speaking world that will give you a deeper understanding for more fun travel experiences.

The United Kingdom

Once the largest empire on earth, the United Kingdom is responsible for bringing the English language to most of the world. However, even here you will hear massive disparities in how things are referred to, causing some funny misunderstandings. Discover the country with the British Royale tour and you may need to use some of the following words or phrases.

Barm / tea cake / cob / bap / scuffler – meaning – bread roll

The humble bread roll has many names across the country. If you’re in London, bread roll will suffice, but if you fancy one with your soup in Leicestershire, Derbyshire or Nottingham, then you need to ask for a cob. In Manchester, they say “barm”, over the Pennines in Leeds, they eat tea cakes, whereas further north in Durham and Northumberland, they call them buns. In some parts of Yorkshire, they are still referred to as scufflers. Perhaps keep a handy checklist in your pocket when choosing somewhere for lunch.

I’ll give it a gander – meaning – I’ll have a look at it

Gander is the proper name for a male goose, so if someone says this, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they were about to present some poultry. However, what this actually means is to take a look at something. So, you could bring your car to a garage to have something checked and a British mechanic might say, “I’ll give it a gander and come back to you.”

That’s mint – meaning – very good, cool

When referring to something good, people in the midlands and North of the U.K. often say “mint”. So, if you’d like to fit in with the locals, you can tell them that the VIP tours to York Minister are “mint” and they’ll know exactly what you mean.

Knackered / Cream-crackered – meaning – tired

Although many English words can be traced back to Shakespeare, most people don’t speak in the manner that much of his work is written. Words like tired seem pretty straightforward, but across England, you’ll hear people exclaim about being knackered or cream-crackered, when actually they mean they are tired. Some people also say “shattered” when they need a good night’s sleep.

Wind your neck in – meaning – be quiet or stop complaining

If you’re being told to wind your neck in, you may have said something to upset the other person! This is a phrase that is often used by parents to quiet the complaints of children, or you may overhear it said by one man to another when arguing over soccer in the pub. If you want to stop someone from saying anything else on the matter, a simple “wind your neck in,” should do the trick!

A few sandwiches short of a picnic / not the full shilling – meaning – not right in the head

When someone is described as a few sandwiches short of a picnic, don’t despair, it doesn’t mean that lunch will be sparse. Rather, the person in question likely doesn’t fully grasp everything going on around them. Sometimes they are referred to as “not the full shilling” too.

Ireland

Just across the water and once a part of the British empire, Ireland has long had English as its first language. However, the Irish have got particularly creative with certain words and phrases and even if you can understand the accent, you may not fully comprehend what they mean. However, with their congeniality and genuine helpfulness, Irish people will usually clear it up for you if you ask. If you’re planning to join our Ultimate Ireland journey, you can brush up on some of the following to make your vacation easier.

Pass that yoke – meaning – give me that item, thing, anything you can’t remember

Yoke refers to anything you can’t find the word for right now. So, it may be a screwdriver or a hat, but somehow Irish people always know what the other is looking for when they hear “pass me that yoke there”.

Now we’re sucking diesel – meaning – things are going very well

This is a funny one that always brings a smile to foreign visitors. While on your extraordinary travels around this green isle, you might hear someone say “Now we’re sucking diesel”. This could be in reference to anything at all, from a sports team doing well to making headway on a new project, but what the speaker means is that things are going very well.

 Stall the ball – meaning – wait up, or wait a moment

If an Irish person is trying to catch up to you in the street, they may call out to “stall the ball”. This is a gentle request to hang on or wait a moment. It can be used in a variety of circumstances, from waiting to see the outcome of a situation to taking pause in the conversation.

 Press – meaning – cupboard

Always a source of confusion, particularly to visitors from just across the water, is the fact that Irish people refer to cupboards as presses. This arises from the cupboard where the boiler/water heater is kept being called “the hot press” in Ireland, so all other cupboards became presses too.

Having the craic – meaning – fun, a laugh

Some travelers might think that Irish people are particularly fond of class A substances, but in fact craic comes from the Gaelic language, and it means fun or a laugh. So, when Irish people are having the craic, it’s a much cleaner and more responsible sort of diversion.

South Africa 

Long a melting pot of cultures and abundant natural resources, South Africa offers exceptional travel opportunities for those who venture there. Spectacular South Africa brings guests on unique vacations through astonishing landscapes and nature reserves alive with magnificent wildlife. English is widely spoken throughout the country although there may be words that even native speakers struggle with! The locals have melded words from English and Afrikaans, which is perfectly clear to anyone living there but incomprehensible to visitors. Here are some examples:

Ja, Nee – meaning – Yes, No

Here’s a phrase that can mean a number of things. Sometimes it’s used to agree “Ja, nee, you’re right”, and other times it can indicate hesitancy. Often, when someone doesn’t want to upset you but also doesn’t want to commit to an answer, they’ll simply say “Ja, nee”. So, it all depends on who you’re with and what you’re talking about!

Bra / Bru – meaning – friend or pal

South African’s often greet each other by saying “Hey bra!” or “Hey bru!” Much like the Aussies’ “G’day mate”, it’s a friendly term to people they know. However, they are just as likely to use it with someone they’ve just met to show they’re friendly.

Lekker – meaning – brilliant, fantastic

“Last night was lekker,” is a phrase you might hear after having dinner with some new friends in South Africa. They mean that they had a good time, that it was a great night. It can really be applied to anything to signify that something was good, whether that is a person, place or event.

Shame – meaning – what a pity, or to express disappointment / annoyance

South African’s use the word “shame” probably as frequently as they use “lekker”. It’s often used in response to someone to sympathise if something goes wrong, or to mean “cute”. Honestly, if you don’t know what to say, just say “shame” and your new friends will nod in agreement.

Jol – meaning – a good time, a party

Perhaps your Traveling Concierge may suggest a “jol” or tell you about a journey that was “jol”. This means that some fun is about to happen or has happened. “It was such a jol” means that a great time was had.

Australia

Long part of the Commonwealth, Australia has been using English customs and language for over 200 years. However, the Aussies made the mother tongue their own with brilliant colloquialisms and phrases that set them apart from other English-speaking countries. Add these to your repertoire when enjoying some of the extraordinary travel experiences this continent has to offer.

She’ll be apples – meaning – She’ll be alright, it will be ok

When someone says to you “she’ll be apples”, they aren’t referring to fruit or a nearby orchard. Aussies use this term to denote that something will work out ok. Even the “she” is not meant to be taken literally, as it could just apply to the situation at hand.

Bloody oath – meaning – that’s the truth

Certainly a phrase that makes people think twice is bloody oath. This is something that Australians use to attest that they are telling the truth, or to agree with someone. So, they may be agreeing with you when they say “bloody oath”, even though it sounds like an insult!

Cactus or Cark it – meaning – it’s broken or it’s died

While on your travels, if you take your phone out and it’s had a reaction to the hot sun of Australia, your friend may ask “Is it cactus?” Many people would react that no, it’s certainly not a prickly plant, actually the correct answer would be “yes, I think it’s carked it.”

On ya – meaning – well done

In response to a job well done, or something performed well, an Aussie mate might say “On ya”. This is a word of positive encouragement and should be received with thanks.

Other Quirky Anomalies

Luxury Trips to other destinations will introduce you to other strange words that you may not get immediately. For instance, in Canada you may be offered a “scoff” (meal) when you’re hungry and in Singapore if someone says “catch no ball” that means they don’t understand you. Even across America, there are words and phrases that will baffle those who’ve spoken English all their lives – from roundabouts being called “rotaries” in New England to directing you to the “catty corner” (diagonally opposite) in the south of the country. What strange words have you picked up on your world travels?

I had the great fortune of witnessing one of the most time honored traditions in the world when I traveled with Insight Vacations to London.

For over seven hundred years The Ceremony of the Keys has taken place every evening at 9:52 pm at The Tower of London and involved the locking of the gates to the Tower.  This Ceremony is limited to only a small group of guests and is sold out on average nine to ten months in advance.  Lucky for us however, Insight Vacations includes this event on their Luxurious London and Paris itinerary as part of their Luxury Gold collection.