Poisson d’Avril: A Fishy April Fools’ Day in France
pimps and mackerels to calendar chaos and devilish poems, poisson d’avril old and weird roots .
The French don’t say “April Fools” — they say poisson d’avril, or “April fish.” Yes, really. And no, it’s not just because French humor swims in a different current. I wasn’t planning to post today, but this one’s weird enough.
For the record, I know no one who has done this, but I don’t work in an elementary school either. But I have gotten about 5 emails about it today from various publications, so here’s a short piece.
Etymologies are debated, but all seems to land in the 16th century. Poisson d’avril first appears in a 1508 satirical poem by Eloy d’Amerval — a devilish dialogue between Satan and Lucifer (yes, two separate characters). He pairs poisson d’avril with macquereau—“pimp” and “mackerel”—to mock the gullible as easy prey: clueless spring fish, quick to bite. And so, April 1st became poisson d’avril.
In the U.S., “pimp” often carries a flashy or even glamorized connotation thanks to pop culture, but macquereau is an insult: a pimp, sleazy and untrustworthy.
Not that I’ve heard anyone actually called a pimp while I’ve been here, but I’ve read it.
Another version traces it to France’s 1564 calendar reform, when King Charles IX moved New Year’s Day to January 1, when it used to happen in Spring, which makes some sense. But those who still celebrated in late March or April —got mocked as “April fish,” maybe with some fish connection to Christianity?
The Julian calendar had 365.25 days per year, slightly off from the true 365.2422, so by the 1500s, it felt off (by 10 days) and out of step with the seasons, leading to the Gregorian fix in 1582.
Fool someone - with knowledge!
Atlas Obscura has a lot more on this for a deeper dive.
Le Monde has a good one too.
