If you're anything like me, you could use a laugh. Here's a news item I stumbled on from the BBC News.
When officials asked for the Welsh translation of a road sign, they thought the reply was what they needed.
The English is clear enough to lorry drivers. Unfortunately, the e-mail response to Swansea council said in Welsh: "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated". So that was what went up under the English version which barred lorries from a road near Welsh a supermarket. Pedestrians soon began pointing at the sign. There is a call for proper translations, which the Welsh think should be phrased in their language, rather than translated from English.
Other confusing signs:
"We took it down as soon as we were made aware of it and a correct sign will be re-instated as soon as possible."
The blunder is not the only time Welsh has been translated incorrectly or put in the wrong place:
• Cyclists between Cardiff and Penarth in 2006 were left confused by a bilingual road sign telling them they had problems with an "inflamed bladder".
• In the same year, a sign for pedestrians in Cardiff reading 'Look Right' in English read 'Look Left' in Welsh.
• In 2006, a shared-faith school in Wrexham removed a sign which translated the Welsh for staff as "wooden stave".
That feels better now that I've laughed. I can face the day. 'Yesterday, all my problems seem so far away'. Wonderful song by The Beetles. Yesterday, I enjoyed the youth and beauty to carry me through all life's difficulties, never thinking circumstances would change when I grew old.
And this song says it all. 'Old Man' by Neil Young.
The English is clear enough to lorry drivers. Unfortunately, the e-mail response to Swansea council said in Welsh: "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated". So that was what went up under the English version which barred lorries from a road near Welsh a supermarket. Pedestrians soon began pointing at the sign. There is a call for proper translations, which the Welsh think should be phrased in their language, rather than translated from English.
Other confusing signs:
"We took it down as soon as we were made aware of it and a correct sign will be re-instated as soon as possible."
The blunder is not the only time Welsh has been translated incorrectly or put in the wrong place:
• Cyclists between Cardiff and Penarth in 2006 were left confused by a bilingual road sign telling them they had problems with an "inflamed bladder".
• In the same year, a sign for pedestrians in Cardiff reading 'Look Right' in English read 'Look Left' in Welsh.
• In 2006, a shared-faith school in Wrexham removed a sign which translated the Welsh for staff as "wooden stave".
That feels better now that I've laughed. I can face the day. 'Yesterday, all my problems seem so far away'. Wonderful song by The Beetles. Yesterday, I enjoyed the youth and beauty to carry me through all life's difficulties, never thinking circumstances would change when I grew old.
And this song says it all. 'Old Man' by Neil Young.
After a chuckle, I can set aside the worries about living on a state pension, struggling to meet the bills. Disregard the fact that our old car needs more work to keep it running, my husband left a three-page letter of distress about how he used the rent to pay the road-tax, and I didn't sell a single novel this month. All my work with a daily blog and the endless editing on my novels should not be thought of as useless because writing is a wonderful way to keep the brain functioning apart from an evening cup of cocoa. We're old. We shouldn't expect to live the same way we did when we were working. Think of people in poor countries, fleeing their home to save their lives, never knowing when they'll get their next meal.
We all struggle with different circumstances, and even the rich grow old. However, laughter can lift us out of despair, if only for a moment.
We all struggle with different circumstances, and even the rich grow old. However, laughter can lift us out of despair, if only for a moment.
RSS Feed
