07.11.2008 E-mail error ends up on road sign

A translation error on a road sign in Swansea in Wales caused a great deal of amusement in the United Kingdom last week, proving that you should never blindly accept a text as a translation just because it comes from a translation agency.

The local council had asked the agency for a Welsh translation of the English text “No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only”. However, Welsh is nothing like English, so the council assumed the Welsh text they received by email from the agency was the translation they wanted. Unfortunately, it was only after the text appeared on a road sign that the council discovered that it actually read “I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated”. Click here to read the entire article.