Welsh traffic sign now reads “out of office”

In a classic blunder…

From the Beeb:

…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.

One problem, the translator was out of office.

What do you get when you send an email to an out office responder?

Yep, the Welsh version of “sorry, not here…blah blah blah”. Unfortunately nobody could evaluate the problem until the signs were printed AND installed on the road.

Nobody could read or proof the Welsh. nobody knew what it said, but darnit, it looked about right…

So what failed here?

1. Lack of correspondence: meaning things matching things. Even in the most basic translations you have a relationship–1:1. What transpired was a transmission of pure data and a receipt without the necessary “envelope” of data around it. Usually in translation circles, we BILL people for X number of words translated. That would be a sign that something was done. Nothing is free
2. No review/edit/proof. If you are going to print a sign, it should at the very least be reviewed by a native/local language speaker for “do you understand this one?” in ANY language. if they bother to have it in Welsh they should bother to review it.
3. The Welsh-language community is abandoned.  If it was engaged in some meaningful way it would be a part of the operational framework. Some bureaucratic or functional body would exist to approve signage–this is highly inconvenient, but the fact is that somebody has to approve things–it’s like the complaint on review edit proof, but with a name attached. We ask “who cares?” if the sign is right–the people who answer should start work immediately!

Just for fun, here is a Welsh Language magazine just in case you English speakers have never seen it!