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All official road signs in Wales are bilingual, so the local authority e-mailed its in-house translation service for the Welsh version of: "No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only".

The reply duly came back and officials set the wheels in motion to create the large sign in both languages.

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".

:rofl  BBC News


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.


Mind you, that one was probably a cunning plan to get rid of the English.
And not only Welsh.   I'm told that the Chinese 'translation' for the Taiwan market of 'Come alive with Pepsi-Cola' turned out as 'Pepsi-Cola makes your ancestors rise from their graves'.
... and this is why it is Very Important to get a (human) translator who is a native speaker of the language you're going into if you don't want the result to make you/your company/etc. look like a total dork. Mind you, it's always good for a laugh!  :)
I reckon a percentage of signs should have little additions on purpose in harmless situations.  After a long trip reading "stop, don't stop. keep left/right, speed up, slow down etc it would be fun to see a 'no parking except for unicorns'. It would lighten up the day.
:lol
While I think about it, many years ago Creature on holiday in Ireland (Sligo, Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Leitrim, Donegal) and one day he told his friends wot he staying with that he had seen 2 road signs - SLOW and then a little further on SLOWER before reaching a sharp left turn in the road.

That nothing, they said to him, there sometimes a third sign wot do say WE WARNED YOU! but you only see that when you climbing out of the ditch wot you just driven your Metal Basket into.



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