All Fools' day
2
3.1
- noun
- /ɔl fulz deɪ/
:
Día de los Inocentes
- April Fools' Day is a time for laughter and playful jokes among friends.
- last All Fools' day
- All Fools' day last year
Examples
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On April Fools' Day, my friends and I enjoy playing tricks on each other.
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- It's April Fools' Day.
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Over here, on April Fools' Day... it's a custom to pin a fish on people, you know?
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It may be All Fools' Day tomorrow, but there's no need for us to carry on as if we're, well--
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April Fools' Day.
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April Fools' Day.
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Every year, I look forward to the new pranks on April Fools' Day.
Synonyms
7
2.6
A day on April 1 when people play jokes and trick others
3
2.0
A day on the first of April when people play jokes on others
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'all' + 'fools'' + 'day', so a B1 learner who knows the words can infer it denotes a day associated with fools or foolishness. However, the specific cultural meaning — that it is April 1st and involves playing practical jokes — is a conventional, culture-specific detail not fully predictable from the parts alone, so partial understanding but not full comprehension is likely.
Etymology
All Fools' day may come from a story about a change in the calendar: when New Year's Day moved to January 1, people who still celebrated it on April 1 were mocked as 'fools'. Because of this, others began to play tricks on them, and today the day means 'playing harmless pranks'.