愚人节：办公室玩笑禁忌

爱思英语编者按：愚人节也称万愚节，是西方社会民间传统节日，节期在每年4月1日。愚人节与古罗马的嬉乐节和印度的欢悦节有相似之处。从时间的选择上看与“春分”（3月21日）有关，因为这期间天气常常突然变化，恰似是大自然在愚弄人类。这一天，人们以多种方式开周围的人的玩笑，但最晚只能开到中午12点，这是约定俗成的严格规矩。

办公室里不能开的5种玩笑

If you're rubbing your hands with glee at the thought of playing an April Fools' prank on your co-workers, read through my list of things not to do in the office. You may be able to pull off some of these jokes, but it probably won't be funny to your co-workers. Remember, although April 1 is a fun holiday, there is a professional protocol in the office that you still need to take heed of.
如果一想到愚人节可以作弄同事，你就摩拳擦掌，跃跃欲试时，请先通读我的办公室忌讳事项。或许你正准备开一些玩笑，但对你的同事来说那些并不有趣。记住，尽管愚人节是个欢乐的日子，但我们还是要遵循一些办公室的职业操守。

Send in a Resignation Letter: Sending your boss a resignation letter is serious business, and when she finds out that your letter is a gag, I don't think she'll find it very funny. If you want to hang tight to your job, you might want to avoid playing this prank in the office.
递交辞职信： 向老板递交辞职书是件很严肃的事情，当她发现你的申请不过是个玩笑时，我想她也不会觉得可笑。如果想牢牢地保住你的工作，你就应该尽量避免这样的恶作剧。

Say You're Terminally Sick: I've actually had a friend who claimed he had a short time left to live among his friends, and seeing as it wasn't very funny to my friends, it'll be even more inappropriate for the office.
宣称患绝症：我真的有个朋友和大家说自己活不久了，可这事对朋友们来说真不是件欢乐的事情，因此这种提法就更不适合办公场合了。

Free Lunch For the Office: Announcing some freebies for the office such as a free fried chicken lunch for everyone then suddenly taking it back and claiming it's a joke would lead to many unhappy campers. People might skip lunch and spend their morning anticipating the fried chicken.
请同事吃免费午餐：如果你在办公室宣布请客，比如每人一份炸鸡饭，而回来时却告诉他们这只是个玩笑，那么你只会看到非常沮丧的表情。也许好多同事会因期待着你的炸鸡饭而不吃午餐。

Confess Your Love For a Co-Worker: It might be OK to do it to a friend, but it's not a joke that's suited for the office. That's because office romance is a tricky situation, and you don't want to get into trouble and get accused of sexual harassment.
向同事示爱：这对于你工作以外的朋友本是没什么问题的，但对于你的同事来说就不太合适了。办公室的风流韵事是很复杂的，如果你不想陷入麻烦，不想遭受性骚扰，就别这么做。

Destroy Work Items: Anything that involves destroying work property such as permanently screwing up the copier machine or ruining office chairs is a huge no-no. First of all, it's not your property, and you'll be liable for any damages. Second, your boss might have a lower opinion of you and she might think that you're the type of person who doesn't think twice about destroying or defacing public properties.
损坏公共财物：与损坏公司财产有关的任何事情，包括彻底弄坏复印机或办公椅等事情都是绝对绝对不能干的。一方面，这些不是你的私人物品，你必须对损失负责。另一方面，你的上司会因此对你产生不好的印象，认为你是那种不经大脑就损坏公物的家伙。

You work hard to make a good impression on people at the office, so don't erase your record in just one day! Even if you want to pull a harmless prank, you need to suss out the culture of your company to gauge if an April Fools' joke is appropriate.
你好不容易通过辛勤工作给同事们留下了不错的印象，可别在这一天打破了你的良好记录。即使你真想来点无恶意的恶作剧，也需要弄清你的愚人节玩笑与公司文化是否相宜。