Prank or Punk? The Ultimate April Quiz (1)

About This Quiz

Welcome to the ultimate prank-fest!

April 1 is the only day the president can’t impeach you for lying and your boss might actually applaud your chaos.

From Roman bait-and-switches to Google’s 8-bit Google Maps, we’re serving up the greatest hits of human mischief.

Did spaghetti really grow on trees? Did a company once sell ‘perpetual life’ insurance?

Ace the quiz, flip the fraud, and supersize your bragging rights—extra sauce, no pickle.

START QUIZ

1/20

April Fool's Day is generally observed by playing what?

[C] A practical joke | The one day when "gotcha!" is socially acceptable and trust issues are justified. It's basically The Purge for pranksters with less violence and more whoopee cushions.

2/20

Which historical event is believed to have contributed to April Fool's Day in France?

[D] The adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582 | When New Year moved from April to January, slow adopters got pranked for celebrating the wrong date. History's first case of not updating your calendar app.

3/20

The custom of making April fools was called this in Scotland:

[A] Hunting the gowk | "Gowk" means cuckoo or fool in Scots, and victims were sent on impossible errands. It's basically prehistoric snipe hunting with more Scottish accents.

4/20

In England, a fool is called a:

[B] All of the Above | The English have more words for fool than Eskimos have for snow, proving they've been dealing with idiots longer than anyone else.

5/20

The French call April Fool's Day:

[D] Poisson d'Avril | "April Fish" because French kids stick paper fish on backs, combining pranking with seafood themes. Only the French could make foolishness sound gourmet.

6/20

Who said "The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year"?

[A] Mark Twain | America's greatest humorist understood that April Fools' reveals our year-round foolishness. He basically called everyone permanently pranked by life itself.

7/20

In Rome, the holiday was known as:

[C] Festival of Hilaria | Ancient Romans celebrated the spring equinox with jokes and masquerades, proving that humans have always needed excuses to act ridiculous.

8/20

April Fool's Day closely follows the:

[B] Vernal equinox | Spring's arrival apparently triggers humanity's prankster gene, as if nature itself is playing jokes with unpredictable weather and false warm days.

9/20

In what country do people throw flour at their friends on April Fool's Day?

[B] Portugal | Portuguese take "flour power" literally, turning friends into walking pastries. It's messier than most pranks and harder to explain to dry cleaners.

10/20

Many ancient cultures celebrated April 1 as:

[A] New Year's Day | Before calendar reforms, April 1 marked fresh starts instead of fresh pranks. We traded resolutions for rubber chickens—arguable which is more productive.

11/20

What was the name of the fake smart sofa Wayfair marketed on April Fools' Day?

[C] Sofia | Wayfair's AI-powered furniture prank fooled people who've apparently accepted that everything needs WiFi now, including where you sit to avoid technology.

12/20

What was the name of the pet-friendly Amazon Echo device that was an April Fools' joke?

[D] Petlexa | Amazon "launched" Alexa for pets, because apparently dogs need to order their own treats. The joke's on us—someone's probably developing this right now.

13/20

What flavor toothpaste did Burger King claim they launched as a prank?

[C] Whopper | Burger King's beef-flavored oral hygiene product combined America's two favorite things: burgers and confusing personal care choices. Dentists everywhere cried.

14/20

Which artist did Usher tell the crowd would be joining him on stage as an April Fools' prank?

[D] Beyoncé | Usher promised Queen B but delivered disappointment instead. The crowd's excitement-to-rage transformation probably broke some kind of emotional whiplash record.

15/20

What grocery chain tricked people into believing they were selling frozen flowers?

[B] Iceland Foods | The UK frozen food specialist "launched" frozen bouquets, because nothing says romance like flowers you have to defrost before displaying.

16/20

What was the name of the Houzz app feature that would make furniture disappear?

[A] Hide From My Room | Point your phone at ugly furniture and poof—it's gone! If only this worked on relatives during holidays.

17/20

What brand said they were releasing coffee-flavored creamer in 2017?

[B] Coffee-mate | Coffee creamer for your coffee—the recursive beverage nobody wanted. It's like wearing a shirt with a picture of the same shirt on it.

18/20

On April 1st of what year did the Berliner Tageblatt newspaper report that thieves had stolen all the gold from the U.S. Federal Treasury?

[C] 1905 | The German newspaper published a detailed account of a heist, causing a minor panic before it was revealed as a prank. It was a classic case of "fake news" before the term was even invented.

19/20

What did BBC announce would happen to Big Ben in a 1980 prank?

[A] It would become a digital clock | The BBC claimed London's iconic timepiece was going LED, causing traditionalists to lose their minds over fictional modernization.

20/20

What movie did Paul Feig joke about rebooting with an all-female cast in 2017?

[D] Back to the Future | After Ghostbusters, Feig "announced" more gender-swapped reboots, triggering internet debates about films that would never exist. Marty McFly breathed a sigh of relief.