Why Do We Call April 1 April Fools’ Day?

A day for fools? People around the world, and especially in North America and Europe, celebrate April 1 by playing practical jokes and trying to convince each other of outlandish false stories. But how did these customs evolve and why on the first day of April?

To answer that, we have to journey back in time to the reign of Constantine, a Roman emperor in the fourth century. The rulers of that period entertained themselves and their guests with “fools,” court jesters proficient in music, storytelling, acrobatics, or other skills. One day, a comedian joked that he would make a better king than Constantine. The emperor called his bluff and crowned the entertainer “king for a day.” The first thing the jester did was institute mandatory merry-making. Each year afterward on the anniversary of the jester’s kingship, the inhabitants of Rome remembered to have a little bit of fun with each other through jokes and pranks. The custom eventually spread throughout Europe and Northern America.

In 1983, the Associated Press printed this story. To research the origins of the day, they interviewed a Boston University professor with a keen sense of humor. They didn’t realize that the tale was pure nonsense. The history professor invented the story to fool them. It went to press before they realized that the story was nothing but a clever ruse. The truth is, nobody knows for a certainty when and where April Fools’ Day originated.

Let’s take a moment to examine some facts we do know.

Spring Folly

Something about springtime seems to inspire lighthearted fun. Cultures around the world have festivals that appear to center on silliness. The ancient Romans held the Hilaria festivals for their god of vegetation. As part of a celebration called Holi, Hindus douse each other with colored powder. Jewish children dress in costumes, compete in beauty contests, and march in parades during their commemoration of Purim. Perhaps April Fools’ Day arose from an ancient spring festival or for no other reason that an excuse to have a good time.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Not everyone observes April Fools’ Day in the same way. In the Western world, many pranks focus on tricking someone into believing something extraordinary. Burger King perpetrated one famous example. In 1998, they advertised a new menu item in USA Today. The full page ad introduced the Left-Handed Whopper. Burger King claimed that they designed the new sandwich by rotating the ingredients of the regular Whopper 180 degrees to accommodate lefties. The prank duped thousands of left- and right-handers who began ordering the sandwich corresponding to their dominant hand.

Other jokes are designed to cause mild trouble for the victim. For instance, Reader’s Digest published a list of seven practical jokes to play on coworkers who are lax about logging out of their Facebook accounts. The article included changing the colleague’s display language to one that doesn’t use the Roman alphabet (e.g., Japanese or Arabic) and accepting friend requests from strangers. Tricks like these provide a laugh as well as a life lesson.

France is particularly unique in the way they mark April 1. In French, the day is called Poisson d’Avril, or April Fish! Children spend the day trying to sneak a picture of a fish onto the back of their schoolmates. If the friend finds it, they yell, “Poisson d’Avril” in place of the “April Fool!” cry of people in the English-speaking world.

Another common ploy is to send someone on a “fool’s errand.” In other words, you ask him to search for an item that doesn’t exist or otherwise waste time trying to complete a useless task. According to Useless Daily, Scots subscribed to this tradition by requesting the gowk, or stooge, deliver a sealed message. The victim thinks that the message is important, but instead, it says: “Dinna [do not] laugh, dinna smile. Hunt the gowk another mile.” Mercilessly, the recipient furthers the fruitless errand by writing a reply that contains the same message to a third person. The merriment continues until the “gowk” realizes that he’s been had or the holiday ends

April Fool’s vs. April Fools’

If you write the name of the occasion incorrectly, you might receive your fair share of ribbing. Do yourself a favor and mind your apostrophe. The official name of this holiday is April Fools’ Day. Fools is plural, so the apostrophe for possession appears after the last S. However, if you search the two names on Google Ngram Viewer, you will discover that the singular variant is the most popular one! Some dictionaries acknowledge the variant, April Fool’s day. Another name for the same celebration is All Fools’ Day.

Nobody’s Fool

April 1 is the only public holiday accepted by the notoriously successful Finnish school system. Just kidding! April Fools’ Day is not an official public holiday in any country. Especially in the Western hemisphere, its popularity has grown since the nineteenth century, but no one seems to want to grant it formal recognition yet.

With so many countries participating, it seems that setting a day aside for a few jokes and hoaxes is a worldwide trend. From attaching paper fish to someone’s back to sending messengers on fool’s errands, every culture seems to have a different way of having a laugh for the event. Why is April 1 called April Fools’ Day? No one knows for sure, leaving the door wide open for you to make up a ridiculous story about it to dupe your family and friends.

Speak Like Yoda You Can

Whether you’re a diehard Star Wars fan or you’re still a newbie, chances are you know Yoda speak when you hear it. The Jedi master’s method of speaking includes quirky sentence structures, unusual words, and wise phrases. Read on for some theories of Yoda-speak and a guide to talking like Yoda on your own.

Yoda’s East African Roots

If you’ve ever thought that Yoda’s way of speaking sounds almost primeval, you’re not far off. A language study spearheaded by Stanford University focused on the unique subject-object-verb (SOV) agreement in Yoda’s language. Since this structure preceded subject-verb-object (SVO) agreement, it almost certainly has roots in ancient languages. Stanford researchers determined that the structure of Yoda-speak is based on very early East African languages that influenced the development of the languages we know today.

Yoda’s Old English Roots

SOV agreement also appears in Old English. A side-by-side comparison of Yoda’s statements and some of Shakespeare’s famous lines reveals similarities. Both tend to feature the subject at the beginning of the sentence and the conjugated verb at the end of the sentence. Thus, Yoda’s quirky but profound English statements also borrow from its ancestor, Old English.

It’s also worth noting that even though Yoda’s sentence structure may appear odd when compared with modern phrasing, his statements are still recognizable as English. Altering word order to the extent that Yoda does wouldn’t be possible in many other languages, let alone understandable.

Yoda’s Yiddish Roots

Linguists have compared Yoda speak to Yiddish-influenced English as well, prompting interesting results. Yiddish-influenced English often plays with word order, placing verbs at the end of sentences. This frequently results in witty, whimsical phrasings, which moviegoers can observe in Yoda’s speech.

Why Yoda Speaks the Way He Does

Some Star Wars experts point out that Yoda’s sentence structure can be inconsistent. While his speech may lean toward SOV agreement, he often inserts object-subject-verb (OSV) statements into his lexicon as well. Other more rare statements reflect the SVO agreement we’re used to in modern English.

Experts theorize that Yoda deploys his various phrasings purposefully. Since his SOV statements tend to make him sound wise, profound, and clever, it’s likely that he uses them strategically. On the rare occasion that he doesn’t have an important message to deliver, he may slip back into standard modern English.

As Grammar Girl explains, though Yoda’s speech is memorable, it’s not completely unusual in the world of Star Wars. Many of the movie’s characters are immigrants from lands far away, and their speech also includes numerous oddities. Like any immigrant, Yoda incorporates his own phrasing into the language of the land.

How You Can Talk Like Yoda

Yoda speak may be quirky, but it’s certainly possible to imitate. To talk like Yoda, start by thinking of something wise to say. This can be as simple as a short, poignant statement. Next, change around the word order of your statement. Place the subject and the most important phrase first. Any negatives in your statement should go to the end.

Be sure to reaffirm your statements or questions. If you’re making an affirmative statement, add “yes” at the end. If you’re asking a question, add an inquisitive “hmm?” at the end. Including these will help emphasize the context of your statement and provide Yoda speak newbies with the clues they need to communicate with the wise one.

Try incorporating some Yoda speak into your daily life and see how well you’re able to communicate with those around you. Does your language sound profound, witty, or both?

Not-So-Sweet 16 Game 8: Close Talkers vs. “Well, actually . . .”

March MADness has been long. It has been frustrating. It has reminded us all of those things we don’t like about our office-mates. But, take heart! We are one poll away from exiting the Not-So-Sweet 16 and choosing the Final (Infuriating) Four!

Our last poll of the Not-So-Sweet 16 is a doozy, pitting a classic Seinfeld gripe against the world’s most irritating interjection. Help us determine the fate of office rage by voting below.

Close Talkers

These folks like to get cozy when they’re chatting with others. They seem to be playing a game of “can you guess what I had for lunch?” where the answer is always “Onions.”

“Well, actually . . .”

This phrase is the hallmark of a know-it-all. With a penchant for perfection and an inability to filter relevant details from irrelevant ones, this person never misses an opportunity to correct or clarify themselves and others.

Hyphen In Compound Adjective With Numbers

When numbers are used as the first part of a compound adjective, use a hyphen to connect them to the noun that follows them. This way, the reader knows that both words function like a unit to modify another noun. This applies whether the number is written in words or in digits.

The president of the company gave a 10-minute speech to the Board of Directors.

He is knowledgeable in thirteenth-century politics.

The boy threw a rock at the second-story window.

However, a hyphen is not required if the number is the second word in the compound adjective.

He is a victim of Type 2 diabetes.

This elevator doesn’t go down to Basement 3.

Hyphen in Compound Adjective With Fractions

When using a fraction (e.g. half or quarter) as part of a compound adjective, it should be hyphenated so the reader understands which fraction is modifying which noun.

I half-wanted to commit a felony.

A quarter-million dollars is still a large amount of money.

You’ll need one-third of a pound of flour and one egg.

That’s a half-baked idea if I ever heard one!

Hyphen With Number of Years

Use hyphens when you are using someone’s age as a label.

Four-and-a-half-year-olds are not reasonable about nap time.

The two-year-old’s favorite food was yogurt.

Don’t use hyphens when you’re just talking about a span of time.

We’ve lived here for four and a half years.

Two and a half years is plenty of time to learn how to play tennis.

Learn Your Homophones: Pear, Pair, and Pare

Pair: two of something, usually that are similar or go together. For example:

I’m going to buy a new pair of shoes.

Johnny and Sally make a cute pair.

Pear: a fruit. For example:

Rufus is eating an apple, and I am eating a pear.

The pear was ripe and juicy.

Pare: trim (something) by cutting away its outer edges; cut the skin off of something; reduce (something) in size, extent, quantity, or number, usually in a number of small successive stages. For example:

Each summer he pares a large number of branches from the trees in the backyard.

When making an apple pie, pare the skin off the apples first

.

They have significantly pared down the number of people on their team.

Now that you know the difference between these words see if this sentence makes sense to you:

Before I eat them, I will pare this pair of pears.

To learn more about confusing words, read this post about word pairs.

Rewriting 101: How to Add Clarity to Your Sentences

Have you ever finished writing a sentence only to reread it and be completely baffled at its structure? Sure, the sentence might be technically grammatically correct, but it sounds incredibly awkward. In situations like these, it’s best to step back and try to find a way to rewrite the sentence. For example: When you see your new friend, tell him or her that I said hello.

Although using ‘him or her’ to indicate a person of whose gender you aren’t aware is technically correct, the sentence above sounds formal and would likely come across as awkward in casual conversation. In this case, try rewriting the sentence:

Tell your new friend that I said hello. The next time you see your new friend, say hello for me. Say hello to your new friend for me.

Another example: She took over the family business because, due to a series of unexpected events, her mother was unable to continue the administrative work that she had done faithfully for over twenty-five years.

This sentence is overly wordy and awkward. Try removing information from the sentence or breaking it up into two sentences:

Her mother was unable to continue the administrative work that she had done faithfully for over twenty-five years. Therefore, Monica took over the family business.

Another example: People, parents mostly, who care about children should make an effort to teach their children the differences between right and wrong.

This sentence is repetitive and awkward. Try consolidating the information in the sentence:

If parents care about their children, they should teach them the differences between right and wrong.

If you can’t tell whether or not your sentence is awkward, try reading it aloud. Your ears will often tell you before your eyes will if you should rewrite the sentence.

For more tips on clear and concise writing, read this blog post by C.S. Lakin.

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Job Seekers: What’s Wrong with Your Resume? Probably More than You Think.

#WhatIWrite: Cover Letters and Resumes

More than two thirds of salaried jobs require a significant amount of writing, making written communication a key consideration in hiring. Yet, top organizations still spend more than $3 Billion (with a “B”!) per year on remedial training to improve employees’ writing to baseline standards.

Cover letters and resumes are, not surprisingly, a great way for potential employers to assess candidate’s writing skills. According to a recent analysis of online resumes by Grammarly:

• There are 5 potential errors on a typical job seeker’s resume, and most of these issues (nearly 60 percent) are grammatical.
• Female job seekers make an average of 4 grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes in their resume, while male job seekers average more than 6 mistakes.
• The average job seeker makes more than 1.5 punctuation errors, but very few spelling mistakes (less than one per resume).

Careful proofreading is the best way to find potential spelling and grammar issues in a resume or cover letter. Using Grammarly’s application as an extra set of eyes to find spelling and grammar mistakes enables job seekers to differentiate themselves by focusing on content and style.

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Have you written a particularly compelling resume or cover letter recently that you’d like to share?

Grammarly is joining The New York Times Learning Network, National Council of Teachers for English, National Writing Project and other literary-minded organizations in spreading the word about the #WhatIWrite Tweet-up to take place today (Friday, October 19) and tomorrow (Saturday, October 20).

#WhatIWrite encourages writers to share excerpts from their writing via Twitter. Participants who include the hashtag #GrammarlyEdits with any of their tweets will be entered into a drawing to win a free one-year subscription to Grammarly’s online application valued at $139.95. You may also tell your friends about the contest on Twitter for a second chance in the drawing.

Click here to learn more about the #GrammarlyEdits #WhatIWrite contest.

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