A closer look
Welsh road signs have accidentally featured out-of-office email replies because local authorities blindly copy-pasted Welsh translations from auto-responders without actually speaking the language. In 2008, Swansea council printed a massive bilingual sign prohibiting heavy goods vehicles, but the Welsh text literally translated to stating that the translator was not in the office at the moment and to send any work to be translated. It highlights the hilarious incompetence of relying on automated email systems for critical public infrastructure in areas striving to preserve their linguistic heritage. This goes to show that no matter where you travel in the world, bureaucratic laziness is a universally binding human trait that transcends all cultures, languages, and multimillion-dollar public works budgets designed to keep drivers safe
