original: they claimed to be playing an april fool 's joke , but most people who saw the signs were unfamiliar with the phrase .
simplifications: they declared to be playing an april fool 's joke , but most people who saw the signs were unknown with the phrase . they said they were playing an april fool 's joke , but most people who saw the signs did not know the phrase . they claimed to be playing an april fool 's joke , but most people who saw the signs were unfamiliar with the phrase . they said they were playing an april fool 's joke , but most people who saw the signs did not know what they meant . they claimed to be playing an april fool 's joke , but most people who saw the signs were not familiar with the saying . they said they were playing an april fool 's joke , but most people who saw the signs did n't know the phrase . they said they were playing an april fool 's joke , but most people who saw the signs had not heard of the phrase . most people who saw the signs were unfamiliar with the phrase , though they claimed to be playing an april fool 's joke .