FOOL
Wild Word Friday!
April 1 – April’s Fool’s Day. I’m not sure that this “holiday” is recognized anywhere else in the world, but in the U.S. it’s a great excuse to pull pranks and launch practical jokes.
I’m not much into pranks, and practical jokes always seem to backfire, so instead, let’s take a little time to consider the genesis of the English word FOOL.
In the English language, the word FOOL has a fairly harsh connotation, and it’s antecedents generally carry that same hard edge. As a FOOL, you are not just a dupe, you cause your own problems . The Latin root of FOOL is follis, which means a pair of bellows – windbags.
Related words in various Indo-European languages make reference to having a mind like a chicken. If you’ve ever raised chickens, you know that they’re not the brightest creatures in the universe. Wasn’t it Chicken Little who went around screaming about the sky falling after she got hit on the head by an acorn?
As I recall, the times in my life that I’ve felt most like a FOOL came about because I was bellowing at the top of my lungs about something that didn’t require any bellowing at all. Maybe the best lesson we can take away from April FOOL’s Day is that when we’re the target of acorn attacks, rather than jump to FOOLish conclusions, we should pick up the nuts and go plant trees.
Q4U: Have you ever pulled an April FOOL’s prank? Is April FOOL’s Day recognized in your country?
yes.. april fools is well known here in Ireland… and it is also “celebrated” in the Netherlands.
I try to do silly jokes but nobody ever falls for my tricks, I think I have one of those faces that gives me away straight away. 🙂
This morning my son called to tell me he’d been evicted and that having been away last night, he returned to find all of his things out in the hallway. Yup, he got me a good one! I wasn’t expecting that! We had a good chuckle over it.
Oh, Laura, that’s a good one!
I have one of those “honest” faces, too, Jackie. My kids could read me like book, even when they were little!
April fools day is sure well known over here in Western Australia.I”m not one for pranks or yokes but have been caught out many times.On April1st every year it;s a day that everyone with smoke alarms have to renew there batteries. I have electric one’s so I have to make sure that it works by setting it off.Do you have smoke alarms in your home?
@Trish, That’s a great idea about smoke alarms. We do have smoke alarms in our house and also a CO2 alarm.
Whats a CO2 alarm?
Trish, My mistake – it’s a CO alarm – to detect carbon monoxide. Friends of ours had a faulty refrigerator and almost died of CO poisoning. They had to be hospitalized and given oxygen.
Here’s a quote from an online advertisement for a CO alarm: Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless, deadly gas. It can be emitted by sources including gas or oil furnaces, gas clothes dryers, water heaters, fireplaces, wood stoves, charcoal grills, gas ranges, and space heaters. A clogged chimney, improper venting, and attached garages can also cause carbon monoxide accumulation. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), at least one CO alarm should be installed near a home’s sleeping area.
Sue thanks for the information.We dont have that type of alarm over here but if we have gas heaters we have to venting plus have the right size gas heater to suit room size.You cant just go and buy the biggest to keep warm.
I am not good at pulling practical jokes but did hear a good one. A woman was married to a real joker and she got him back really good one time. He was an avid lottery player and watched the program faithfully. One day she taped it, went out and bought a ticket with the past winning numbers, then set it up to replay the next time he watched. She had given him her ticket to see if she had a winner and as each number was read, he got more and more excited. You can just imagine as he thought it was being played live.
I always imagine how the jokee will feel when the joker reveals the prank and sympathize too much so end up not pulling the trik at all.
I’m like you, Ginny. I don’t think I could pull that prank on anybody, but it is a very good one!