The Language of April Fools' Day

April Fools' (with the apostrophe after the -s) is a celebration of deception. It's all about gags and pranks and tricks and practical jokes and fibs and jests and hoaxes. It is amazing to see how many words there are in English to describe every facet and nuance of deception. This April Fools' Day, as you plan the ultimate prank to pull on your gullible friends, remember to also celebrate the crazy fun that only language can provide.

Here is a sampler of April Fools' linguistic fare along with its historical baggage:

caper: Appropriately enough, the genealogy of caper (not to be confused with the edible variety) is all romp and frolic. The long, long line of its predecessors (caper < capriole < capriola < capriolare < capriolo < capreolus) ultimately derives from caper, the Latin word for "goat". Would it make you... jump out of your seat to know that the Latin caper is also the source of the English cab (cabriolet)?

fib: A fib is a fabrication, right? Kinda like a fairy tale. Well, this is actually the etymological path it followed. Fib derives from the Latin fabula (story), which, in turn, goes all the way back to the Indo-European root *bha- (= to speak). The family of fib includes a lot of distinguished, and, maybe at first sight, unlikely members: fabulous (of course!), affable, infant, fairy, nefarious, fame, fate, prophet -- they all go back to the same root.

gag: The origins of gag in the sense of "prank", "trick" may be lost to us forever. No matter how far back we go, all we find is roots and words related to the more violent meanings of gag, i.e. "to prevent speech", "to choke". There is a Middle English ancestor, gaggen, which meant "to strangle". And then, all of a sudden, in the 19th century, people begin to use gag as a noun, meaning "joke". Word history playing a gag on us?

hoax: The etymological history of hoax is itself based on a hoax. Really truly. Hoax derives from hocus, as in hocus pocus. Hocus pocus is not real Latin, it is imitation Latin, used by traveling jugglers and conjurers to make their tricks look real. Hence the modern meaning of trickery.

humor: The origins of humor are not funny. They are... damp. Humor derives from the Latin verb humere (to be moist); hence English humid. So, how did we get from a state of wetness to a state of mind? Through the ancient Greek and Roman theory of humoralism, according to which, people are made up of four fluids, four "humors" (from Greek k^hymos = sap, juice, or perhaps Greek hygros = wet): blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Our temperament, psychological disposition, and general health depend on the balance of these four fluids. Over the centuries, the meaning of humor developed from "fluid determining mood" to "particular mood" to "whim" to "sense or state of funniness". Who said etymology doesn't have a sense of humor?

joke: Every English joke goes back to the same Latin ancestor: jocus (= jest). Jocus also gave us jocular (duh!), jeopardy (via Old French jeu), juggler, and maybe - just maybe - jewel.

trick: Once again, English goes to Latin to add to its April Fools' bag of tricks. The source of trick is the Latin verb tricari (= to play tricks and cause trouble). For the umpteenth time, French obliges in the part of relay language, and via trichier (= to cheat) and trique we arrive at our familiar trick. The family also boasts of more ominous offspring, including intricate and treachery.

Happy April Fools' Day, everyone!

Source:
Merriam-Webster Online: http://www.m-w.com