April 1 is a day for for playing tricks on your friends in Estonia too. It's simply called esimene aprill; April first, and if you play a trick or tõmbad kedagi haneks “pull / yank them, so they are a goose”, you yell “APRILL!” Tricking someone is also called tüssamine. If you were tricked, you could say ma said tüssata or mind peteti (I was fooled), or ma sain vastu pükse (I got (a slap) on the pants / backside). Or the aforementioned goose reference: mind tõmmati haneks.
To add more animals to the mix, tricking people on April 1 in French-speaking countries and areas is known as poisson d'avril or April fish (aprilli/kala) and the same, or pesce d'aprile in Italian. The joking includes attempting to attach a paper fish to the victim's back without being noticed. Such fish feature prominently on many late 19th- to early 20th-century French April Fools' Day postcards.
1. aprillil my colleague rushed into our common kitchen at work and excitedly asked whether I'd seen the solar eclipse. I ran to the window and started looking around madly. Where was the sun, where?! I'd never want to miss a päikese/varjutus. “APRILL!”
Riina Kindlam, Tallinn
