The French, instead of referring to April Fool's Day, call it Poisson d'Avril (April Fish). This may be because there is a custom to pretend to pat a friend on the back while you are surreptitiously sticking on a paper fish. Did the custom come from the name of the day or did the day name come from the custom?
One tradition is that the fishing season ended on March 31st. A man was sent to buy fish on April 1st, only to be laughed at. He was called Poisson d'Avril in mockery and the name came to be applied to the day.
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