Aprillipäivä - Finnish tradition and the herring rhyme

1700

April Fools' Day has been known in Finland since at least the 1700s. The custom is marked by the rhyme shouted once the trick is revealed: 'Aprillia, syö silliä, juo kuravettä päälle!' ('April fool, eat herring, drink ditchwater after it!'), cognate with the Swedish herring formula. April hoaxes became common in Finnish newspapers in the 1960s. A recurring annual custom; the year is the start of the attested century.