Joker in the Deck
April Fool's Day
Today is April Fool’s Day and we found the joker in the deck amongst the supervisors. One of the supervisors unexpectedly told us that he was resigning and that there was a farewell ceremony at 2:00 pm. I don’t trust anyone on April first and he was no exception. However, a few people were fooled. The difficult thing is that even though we know it is a prank, we still have to go because it is a supervisor. I am not sure if anyone told him about revealing the joke. He made a weird speech and shook all of hour hands. He was giggling to himself the whole time and the other supervisors were not there. So, it definitely wasn’t real. A lot of time when there is a prank like this, the person performing the prank will buy some pizza or donuts for the people who were pranked. I am upset that there wasn’t any pizza and the supervisor never revealed that it was an April Fool’s joke.
Meaning
A joker in the deck is someone or something that is unpredictable or different. Sometimes we call an unpredictable person a wild card. Alternatively, you could say, “A joker in the pack.”
Example: My friends and I have plans to have a picnic on the beach. Everything is prepared, but the joker in the deck is the weather.
Origin
A set of playing cards is called a deck or sometimes a pack. A joker in the deck is a reference to playing cards. The joker cards are often used in special / different ways from the other cards in the deck. The joker card comes from the game Euchre. The joker cards first appeared in the 1860s. In euchre, they need an extra trump card (highest value card) called the Best Bower or Imperial Bower. In the 1870s, the Best Bower became known as the joker card, or the Jolly Joker. The Joker card made its way to Europe through the game of Poker. Nowadays, almost all decks of playing cards come with jokers. They are used in many different card games.
See Also: Stack the deck, Resign
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Resources:
https://bicyclecards.com/article/a-brief-history-of-the-joker-card/
https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/question310