Yes, April Foolsā day is a French tradition. But the name is quite different. Thereās nothing to do with April or Fools, but the French star of the show is⦠a fish ! š
How do you say April Foolās Day in French?
We call April Foolsā day by the French date: April 1st. So in French, April Foolsā is āle premier avrilā. Thereās a strong liaison between the R and the A, therefore it sounds like āpremiĆØreā in the feminine, but itās actually spelled in the masculine āpremierā.
How do we celebrate April Foolsā in France?
The typical French April Foolsā prank consist of discreetly attaching a paper fish to the back of your unknowing victim⦠But all kinds of pranks are possible on āle premier avrilā, especially fake news.
When the prank is revealed, we shout: āpoisson dāavrilā!!!
On April foolsā day in France, a common prank consists on sticking a paper fish on someoneās back, or tell fake news. When itās discovered, we shout: poisson dāavril šššClick to PostWhere this habit comes from is not certain. There are several theories (read more here), but why the symbolic of the fish remains pretty much a mystery.
My April Foolās Day in France Video
I shot a video in French to tell you about April Foolās day in France!
This video comes with verified French and English subtitles ā the CC option is located to the bottom right of the video: press CC to turn the subtitles on and off, and wheel to select French or English subtitles.
15 French Laughter Words
For a taste of French jokes, follow this link to 36 French jokes with audio recordings and English translations on French Today.
How to Say a Joke in French?
The most common way to translate a joke in French is āune blagueā. It can be used for a prank or practical joke or a verbal joke.
How To Say āTo Jokeā In French?
The verb is important because it will set the context of the joke:
- if you use āfaireā, then itās an action and itās likely youāre talking about a prank
Faire une farce, faire une blague, faire une plaisanterie : to make a prank
Yet we say āfaire un jeu de motā: to make a pun⦠- if you use ādireā or āraconterā, then itās verbal.
Dire une blague, dire une histoire drƓle: to tell/crack a joke
Watch out for āraconter des histoiresā which could be an idiom meaning to lie, making up stories.
Arrête de raconter des histoires et dis-moi la vérité! Stop making up nonsense and tell me the truth!
We also have a series of specific verbs to say to joke, kid around:
- Blaguer : to joke
Mais non !! Je blague
No! Iām pulling your leg/ Iām kidding - Plaisanter : to joke
Ce nāest pas mĆ©chant : il plaisante, cāest tout !
Itās not mean, heās only kidding. - Raconter des histoires: to tell things that are not true, to pull someoneās leg
Je ne te crois pas : tu me racontes des histoires !
I donāt believe you, you must be pulling my leg. - Faire marche quelquāun : to take someone for a ride
Mais non, bien sĆ»r que ce nāest pas vrai ! Je te fais marcher, et tu cours !!
Of course itās not true: Iām taking you for a ride and youāre going a 100 miles⦠(Iām being a bit inventive with the translation here but you get the ideaā¦)
French Words for Pranks, Tricks, Practical Jokes, Hoax
We have a series of French words for tricks, pranks and practical Jokes
- Une farce : a practical joke, a prank, a trick
Je vais lui faire une farce
Iām going to play to trick on him - Une blague : a joke (physical or verbal)
Jāadore faire des blagues:
love doing pranks. - Un tour: a trick
Il a plus dāun tour dans son sac.
He has more than one trick up his sleeves - Un canular: a hoax
Regarde ! Il y a un canular Ć la tĆ©lĆ© : cāest un type avec une camĆ©ra cachĆ©e.
Look! Thereās a hoax on TV: itās a guy with a hidden camera.
9 French Words for Verbal Jokes
French laughter vocabulary: a practical joke, a prank, a trick: une farce / a physical or verbal joke: une blague / a trick: un tour / a hoax: un canularClick to PostFor verbal jokes, the French vocabulary we use differs a bit:
- Une plaisanterie : a joke (verbal, a bit old-fashioned)
- Une histoire drƓle : a joke, a funny story (only verbal)
- Un jeu de mot : a pun ā here are 10 French puns with audio explained.
- Une devinette : a guessing game
- Une blague : a joke
- Une blague grivoise : a dirty joke
- Une blague douteuse : a bad joke (could also mean a borderline dirty joke or poor taste)
- Une blague pourrie : a very bad joke (colloquial)
- Une farce : mostly used for physical jokes, but sometimes also used for verbal jokes.
Note the expression āsans blague !ā which means āno way⦠no kidding!ā
Tu as gagnƩ au loto ? Sans blague!
You won the lottery? No kidding!
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12 Ways of Saying Funny & Fun in French
To say funny in French, we use several adjectives: I list them from the most common to the least common.
- amusant ā the most common way of saying funny and fun in French
- drĆ“le ā very used but could also mean a bit strange.
- marrant ā colloquial slang
- rigolo ā colloquial slang
A bit let used⦠- divertissant ā amusing
- distrayant ā distracting
- dĆ©sopilant ā very funny
- hilarant ā hilarious
- roulant ā colloquial slang
- poilant ā colloquial slang
Much less used⦠- fendant ā colloquial slang
- cocasse (very formal) ā funny and a bit strange
12 Ways to Say Laugh in French
- Rire : to laugh
- Le rire : laugher
- Rigoler : to laugh (colloquial)
- La rigolade : laughter (colloquial)
- Un fou rire : when you cannot stop laughing
- Hurler de rire : to laugh really hard and loud (!! nothing to do with āto hurlā)
- Ćclater de rire : to burst in laughter, to start laughing really hard
- Pleurer de rire : to cry from laughter
- Se taper une barre (de rire)/des barres de rire : to laugh till it hurts (a new expressions used by the younger crowd nowadays)
- Je suis mort(e) de rire : MDR = I died laughing
- Je suis pƩtƩ(e) de rire : broken in two from laughter = PTDR
- MDR, PTDR = LOL
Smile in French
- Sourire : to smile
- Le sourire : smile
- Ćtre souriant(e) ā to be smiling
- Sourire de toutes ses dents ā idiom. To smile with all your teeth = have a big smile on.
April Foolsā French Joke 2017
Grown ups like to make jokes as well, announce fake info for April foolsā in France : itās very common that play on words are also made by the media, radio, TV etcā¦
See what the RATP (the company managing the Paris Subway) did in 2017: they made puns with Paris mƩtro station names! They glued some stickers around the names on the stations themselves.

Iāll translate and explain them for you: all these are French puns, so the name of the station sounds more or like another French word and together makes a fun sentence.
- Auber = Tartine au beurre salƩ = toast with salted butter
- Simplon = du simple au double = an expression meaning the cost for example was doubled āfrom simple to doubleā
- Jules Joffrin = Ć mon Jules, jāoffre un baiser = to my boyfriend, I give a kiss
- Bastille = Une pastille pour la gorge ? = a lozenge for the throat?
- JaurĆØs = Si jāaurais su jāaurais pas venu = famous quote from the movie āLa Guerre des Boutonsā and a mistake French kids would frequently make with French hypothesis using āsiā/ if. It should be āsi jāavais su je ne serais pas venuā ā If I had known I wouldnāt have come.(
- IĆ©na = quand (il nā) y en a plus, il y en a encore = when there is no more there is some left ā a famous French saying
- Laumiere = qui a éteint la lumière = who turned off the light?
- Gentilly = de la chantilly sur tes fraises = some whipped cream on your strawberries?
- Goncourt = numƩro un au concourt de beautƩ = Beauty contest first prize
- Jussieu = Jāy suis, jāy reste = Iām there and Iām staying
- Passy = (ne) reste pas si prĆØs du bord = donāt stay so close to the edge
Why are some words omitted such as the āil n'ā or the āneā ā thatās modern French!

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Here is My 2014ās French April Foolsā Joke
I sent this in my newsletter in 2014.
BREAKING NEWS! President FranƧois Hollande is to change his last name. āIāve had enough of the confusion created by my last nameā said Franceās president to a TF1 reporter. The president has not yet disclosed his chosen last name, but rumor has it that he may choose āde Franceā, since āde Gaulleā has already been usedā¦
Brought to comment on this exceptional measure, Marie Le Pen cried out āPoisson dāavril !!!ā
Here is My 2012ās French April Foolsā Joke
Yesterday, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced an ambitious plan for mitigating the social health deficit: to sell the Parisian monuments, which presently belong to the city of Paris.
Many foreign powers have already made offers totalling several billion Euros. It seems that China is willing to pay 3 billion Euros for the Eiffel Tower alone.
The other monuments concerned are the Arc de Triomphe, the Petit Palais, the Sorbonne, the Paris Bourse, the Invalides, Grand Palais ⦠and the bridges of the Seine.
The President said that Notre Dame cathedral as well as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart would be excluded from the negotiations because of their religious character.
āIt is out of the question to move these monuments symbolic of the city of Paris, only to cede their title and their visa operation to make a profit that could solve the French economic crisis. ā
Brought to comment on this exceptional measure, Carla Bruni cried out āLong live the April foolsā. ā
Here is an hilarious āpoisson dāavrilā video of a fish pranking a cat ! And it comes with English subtitles :-) Note the song at the end which is a very famous children song.
French April Foolsā Video
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