# April Fools fail or win? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633 "2012-04-02T21:54:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/1 "2012-04-02T21:54:01Z")
I posted on Facebook that I got engaged. Entirely too many of my friends believed me. I thought it was funny but I now fear some may be mad at me. What say you–should I have simply said “I am marrying corn”? Really–what is the big deal? Why do people take this so seriously? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/2 "2012-04-02T22:00:36Z")
Did you tell your SO? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/3 "2012-04-02T22:37:27Z")
Some people take it seriously because you lied about a major life event. It wasn’t clever, edgy, or cool, it was stupid and thoughtless. That tends to piss people off. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/4 "2012-04-02T22:55:38Z")
Fail. Making jokes about life events that most people hold to be important and/or serious is going to piss people off. People who were excited and happy at your news, did not enjoy getting the rug pulled out from under them. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/5 "2012-04-02T23:26:46Z")
I had a friend do this on Facebook last year on April 1st. A lot of people were pretty pissed off when they found out it was a joke, so it never seems like a good idea. That’s because (I think) that has a high probability of being real, no matter what the day. If you’re looking for the right prank, it needs to be something a bit more outlandish, in my opinion. Take mine for example. Every April 1st I’ll change my profile photo (on Facebook) to a girl and make a status “confessing” that I’ve been a girl all this time and that I’m sorry for lying to everyone. This is obviously found out fairly quickly since I have a lot of people on my friends list who know me in real life…so even if people fall for it for a little bit, it’s usually revealed sort of quickly, and then the rest of the day is set aside for puns and jokes in the replies. With your announcement, people are taking it more at face value and feel happy for the person, so it’s going to upset people more when they find out it isn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/6 "2012-04-02T23:31:02Z")
Say you’re marrying bacon, as per the recent commercials. That might make a few of your friends chuckle ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/7 "2012-04-02T23:43:32Z")
Seriously, dude. Confess to being a Bigfoot, or an alien cephalopod, or an ATF agent who has been collecting information all this time. Change your pic to a black square. Coordinate with another friend and have a knock-down evil Status fight. But don’t lie about becoming engaged - unless it’s to Snookie, with appropriately badly Photoshopped pictures. ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/8 "2012-04-03T00:35:08Z")
Wow–I guess the thought of making a joke on a holiday all about making a joke would have been funny. I didn’t realize there were such “rules” PS: I have transgendered friends and making a joke about being the opposite sex would be in bad taste and borderline hatred. I would never ever joke about that–especially given the high rates of prejudice towards an already marginalized population. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/9 "2012-04-03T00:38:12Z")
April Fool’s Day is serious business. Every year sweatshops in China crank out millions of low-cost generic gags: “I’m pregnant”, “I’m engaged”, “I’m married”. Perhaps some of your facebook friends are less disappointed that you posted nearly the same message as five or six of their other friends, and more concerned about the worrying trend of globalization, and assume that your message is yet more evidence of such. Next year consider buying your April Fool’s Day gag from a local vendor, or make up an original one yourself. ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/10 "2012-04-03T00:43:28Z")
Well if it’s such commonplace then why didn’t they just say, “ho–I know you didn’t post that knock-off up in here!”? ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/11 "2012-04-03T00:47:18Z")
Well, maybe they’re just noobs. They’ll eventually become as jaded as the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/12 "2012-04-03T00:53:16Z")
> [@living\_in\_hell](#): > > Wow–I guess the thought of making a joke on a holiday all about making a joke would have been funny. I didn’t realize there were such “rules” You didn’t make a joke. You merely said something that wasn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/13 "2012-04-03T00:54:07Z")
> [@living\_in\_hell](#): > > Wow–I guess the thought of making a joke on a holiday all about making a joke would have been funny. I didn’t realize there were such “rules” Of course there are rules - a fake holiday is no excuse for acting like a jerk. If you wouldn’t lie to your friends about being engaged on any other day of the year, don’t do it on April 1st. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/14 "2012-04-03T01:20:03Z")
> [@living\_in\_hell](#): > > Wow–I guess the thought of making a joke on a holiday all about making a joke would have been funny. I didn’t realize there were such “rules”. Something doesn’t become funny just because you do it April 1st. Your joke wasn’t outrageously offensive or anything, but there’s nothing remotely funny about it. Like a previous poster said, you just posted something that was a lie. Your friends are pissed because you jerked them around in service of a “joke” that was not clever, original, or amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/15 "2012-04-03T01:37:45Z")
I don’t think this is a huge thing. It was April Fool’s Day. People should accept things with a grain of salt. Now, announcing some tragic news like a divorce, a death in the family, or a terminal illness - that would be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/16 "2012-04-03T01:45:44Z")
A friend’s kid learned the phrase “Just kidding” around age five. Soon he took to telling people things that were perfectly plausible . . . followed by “Just kidding.” “My brother just fell down the stairs! . . . Just kidding.” “We’re going to the Broncos game tomorrow . . . Just kidding.” He thought this was high hilarity. They had to explain to him about how jokes work and the boy who cried wolf. This reminds me of that. Basically, you trolled your friends. And it wasn’t funny. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/17 "2012-04-03T01:59:01Z")
I found out I was pregnant on April fools. My husband refused to believe me. This resulted in a fight and all kinds of stupidity. If I had a do over I would wait to tell him the next day. Moral of the story #1: Save life altering revelations to the next day. Moral of the story #2 My ex was an ass. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/18 "2012-04-03T02:08:45Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > “My brother just fell down the stairs! . . . Just kidding.” I dunno. I laughed. I guess I have a five-year-old’s sense of humor. (The question is: which five-year-old?) I gotta agree with the others. Posting on facebook that you’re engaged on April 1st is first and most unforgivable, hackneyed and secondly there just isn’t a joke to it. It’s not that there are rules for April Fool’s Day. (Well, I’d advise against breaking laws.) It’s that people instinctively feel angry when they feel they’ve been made a patsy. If there’s nothing clever or humorous about the reveal there’s nothing to protect the joke teller from everyone’s ire. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/19 "2012-04-03T02:27:03Z")
> [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](#): > > I found out I was pregnant on April fools. My husband refused to believe me. This resulted in a fight and all kinds of stupidity. If I had a do over I would wait to tell him the next day. > Moral of the story #1: Save life altering revelations to the next day. > Moral of the story #2 My ex was an ass. Well congrats are in order. ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633/20 "2012-04-03T03:02:03Z")
I have a question for all of you who take such a strong stand on what constitutes an acceptable joke. What is your idea of funny? I’m genuinely curious. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-fools-fail-or-win/617633.md?page=2)