The Welsh reads "I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated."
When Swansea council emailed a translation service to translate a new road sign into Welsh, they received a response saying that the translator was unavailable. Mistaking this for the correct translation of "No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only", they had the sign made up and erected outside Asda in Morriston, Swansea. The sign remained there until local Welsh speakers pointed out the embarrassing error to the council who then had it removed.
However, this is not the first time the Welsh language has been mistranslated or even put in the wrong country!
QUOTE
• 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".
• Football fans at a FA Cup tie between Oldham and Chasetown - two English teams - in 2005 were left scratching their heads after a Welsh-language hoarding was put up along the pitch. It should have gone to a match in Merthyr Tydfil.
• People living near an Aberdeenshire building site in 2006 were mystified when a sign apologising for the inconvenience was written in Welsh as well as English.
• 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".
• Football fans at a FA Cup tie between Oldham and Chasetown - two English teams - in 2005 were left scratching their heads after a Welsh-language hoarding was put up along the pitch. It should have gone to a match in Merthyr Tydfil.
• People living near an Aberdeenshire building site in 2006 were mystified when a sign apologising for the inconvenience was written in Welsh as well as English.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7702913.stm
