今天是西方的愚人節(jié)（April Fools’ Day）——一年中少有的一個心驚膽戰(zhàn)的節(jié)日。在這一天，您可以充分發(fā)揮想象力，讓有序而枯燥的生活在您手中瞬時翻轉，胡作非為在“愚人節(jié)”完全有充分的理由。但是與之同時，不只是有笑聲，還有各種窘迫與惱怒，甚至有人會受到傷害。還有人會很當真……英國Metro報就報道過這樣一則新聞：

A few years ago someone pranked on April Fools’ Day by saying they had murdered their husband with a shotgun.
幾年前，有人在愚人節(jié)開玩笑說，開槍射殺了自己的丈夫。

Police were called and the woman found herself with dozens of officers surrounding her home in Tennessee.
于是警察被叫來了，這個田納西州的女子發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的家被團團包圍住……

Do NOT play this prank this April Fools’ Day.
別在愚人節(jié)開這種玩笑！

那么，如何才能避免惡作劇做的太過分呢？英語君給你們整理了一些Tips：How to Avoid Cruel Pranks？要開玩笑，先戴上安全帽！

1.Put yourself in your victim's shoes. Be honest. Would you feel hurt if someone pulled a prank like that on you? If so, this is a big warning flag telling you that his/her reaction may not be so different.
站在被捉弄人的角度進行換位思考。捫心自問，如果同樣的惡作劇發(fā)生在自己身上會不會受到傷害？如果是，這便是一個標志來提醒你他/她的反應可能會有同樣的反應。

2.Make sure that the prank won't physically hurt the person. It's not funny when someone gets injured. Enough said.
確保惡作劇不會給人帶來身體傷害。無須多言，當有人受傷了，那就一點也不有趣了。

3.Choose the right victim. We all know that there are some people who get hurt more easily than others. Choose someone who can take a joke, someone who would well know that the whole thing's meant all in good fun.
謹慎選擇好要捉弄的人。眾所周知，有些人比其他人更容易受到傷害。選擇那些知道惡作劇是純屬娛樂并可以開得起玩笑的人。

4.Make sure it's intended all in good fun. Why are you pranking the person anyway? If it's to humiliate someone or to get revenge on somebody who's wronged you, you might want to rethink the whole thing. Remember, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
確保這一切都會很快樂。不管怎樣，你為什么要做惡作劇呢?如果是為了羞辱別人或報復得罪你的人,你可能需要重新考慮整個事情。記住：以眼還眼使全世界的人都瞎了。

文中的“an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. ”這句話是印度“非暴力不合作之父”甘地的一句名言。其中“an eye for an eye”的意思是“以牙還牙”“以眼還眼”“睚眥必報”的意思。

5.Choose the right time and place. Pranks are fun to play, but realise when the time is inappropriate. If your victim is at a fancy party or trying to make a good first impression on someone, it's not the time. You also don't want to prank him/her when he/she's clearly not in the mood to play games. If you do something like that, chances are the person won't take it as a joke no matter what you say.
選擇合適的時間和地點，惡作劇是很有趣，但要知道到時間是否合適。如果被捉弄的人在一個聚會或想要給眾人留下好印象的時候便不合適。如果對方顯然沒有心情跟你玩，你也不想再對他/她做惡作劇。如果你在這種情況下做惡作劇，不管你怎么說，別人很有可能不會把它當作一個笑話。

6.Understand when enough is enough. Sure it's funny when you finally do see that priceless look on the person's face, but keep the joking in moderation. If everybody's laughing at him/her all day long over it, that's taking it too far. You're laughing with the person, not at them.
適可而止。當然，當你最終看到別人窘迫的表情會很有趣，但是要適度開玩笑。如果一整天每個人都嘲笑他/她,那就太過分了。畢竟，你應該是與眾人一起歡笑，而不是在嘲笑別人。

那開啥玩笑既無傷大雅又能懵倒眾人呢？

福利時間：教你高逼格整人大法，今天的朋友圈你最會玩！>>猛戳！一分鐘拿走八國語言證書，拿走不謝！

聲明：本文系滬江英語原創(chuàng)內容，轉載請注明出處。中文翻譯僅代表譯者個人觀點，僅供參考。如有不妥之處，歡迎指正。