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 said it was an April Fool's joke, but most people who saw the signs didn't know the phrase. They claimed to be joking but most people weren't familiar with the phrase. They said they were playing an April Fool's joke. Most people were unfamiliar with the phrase. They said they were playing an April Fool's joke. However, most people who saw the signs did not know the phrase. They claimed to be playing an April Fool's joke. Most people who saw the signs were not familiar with the phrase. They were playing an April Fool's joke, but some people who saw the signs were unfamiliar with the phrase They claimed it was an April Fool's joke, but most people who saw the signs did not know the phrase. They claimed it was April Fool but most people who saw the signs were unfamiliar with the phrase. They were playing an April Fool's joke. Many people who saw the signs were not aware of the phrase. They stated they were playing the April Fool joke, but most of the people who saw the signs were unfamiliar with the phrase.