April Fool’s Day

It is a day for harmless tricks and good laughs. The origin of April Fool's Day or 'All Fools' Day goes back to the dilemma faced by many Europeans in 1562 when Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar, one which shifted the start of the new year from its traditionally warm nesting place of April 1 to

the cold and dreary date of January 1. This change was so dramatic, and, considering the supreme power of the church, so universal in its sweep, that very soon those who hadn't heard of or didn't believe in the calendar change, and continued to celebrate the new year on April first, were christened "April Fools", and became the targets of ridicule and the brunt of some pretty serious jokes and pranks.

Today in the United States both children and adults play small tricks on each other. Among some common tricks are trying to .convince someone that their pants or skirt has a rip down the centre backseam, pointing down to a friend's shoe and saying "Your shoelace is untied". Putting salt in the sugar bowl is another common prank, so beware. If the trickster is still around he or she may take credit for his deed by shouting "April Fool". If you are the innocent victim of such mischief, your first reaction may be to wring the scoundrel's neck. However, in the interests of allowing a cultural tradition to survive at least one more year, please consider the date and "take it with a grain of salt".

VOCABULARY

harmless ['hu:mlɪs] — необразливий, нешкідливий

origin ['ɔrɪdʒɪn] — походження

Pope [pəup] — Папа римський; піп, священик

to shift [ʃɪft] — переміщати, пересувати; міняти, змінювати

dreary ['drɪərɪ] — похмурий, понурий, сумний

prank [præŋk] — витівка, пустощі, жарт

to convince [kən'vɪns] — переконувати; запевняти

(у — of що — that) rip [rɪр] — розріз, дірка; розпоротий шов

seam [si:m] — шов

to beware [bɪ'wɛə] — берегтися; стерегтися, остерігатися (чогось — of)

trickster ['trɪkstə] — обманщик; хитрун, спритник

to take credit for smth. — приписувати собі в заслугу що-небудь

innocent victim ['ɪnəs(ə)nt 'vɪktɪm] — безневинна жертва

mischief ['mɪstʃɪf] — пустощі, витівки

to wring [rɪŋ] smb. 's neck — скрутити кому-небудь шию

scoundrel ['skaundr(ə)l] — негідник, падлюка

to take it with a grain of salt [sɔ:lt] — ставитися до цього критично, із недовірою