Witness for prosecution

1:46pm Wednesday 21st November 2012 in Letters

AS A regular customer at the local Spar, I was surprised and confused by a small notice above the freezer which read: “Erlinir lladron” in one-inch-long letters and also underneath in letters a quarter of an inch only long, a warning that “Thieves will be prosecuted”. I wonder if this is a printing error or does it imply that Welsh speakers are more likely to shoplift than the English speaking majority of Welsh citizens?

Perhaps the Spar management is not aware of the Official Language Bill. Brian Donovan, Darlington Court, Newport

Comments(11)

james.dyer7@ntlworld.com says...
2:13pm Wed 21 Nov 12

nice one Brian

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Owain Vaughan says...
2:42pm Wed 21 Nov 12

The supposed "equality" of languages thankfully doesn't extend to the private sector, although having seen such signs myself I too have been mystified.

It seems that this sort of political correctness knows no bounds. The police are especially guilty of it, with new signs in police stations stating "Protecting and Reassuring" in Welsh first. I must say it's not terribly reassuring to see that political correctness comes before the efficacy of the police service.

I've also seen British Transport Police uniforms with a huge "HEDDLU" with "Trafnidiaeth Prydain" in tiny letters below it. Below that in the same tiny letters is "British Transport Police". What exactly is the point in this? Where once we would have had the six letters P-O-L-I-C-E we now see several paragraphs' worth of nonsense like "Swyddog Cymorth Cymunedol yr Heddlu Police Community Support Officer" in letters so small that no-one can even make them out, let alone know what it all means.

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Llanmartinangel says...
12:33pm Thu 22 Nov 12

I guess all this stuff is of interest to Welsh speaking (or reading) hyperlexics but to the rest of us it's just noise which we've learned to ignore. The country has gone 'signage' mad. Driving into Caerleon the other day, there is a sign so big at the end of the Common as you approach, that it obscures what was quite a nice vista before. Needless to say it's pointing the way to things (already previously signposted, in two languages and is just crass, unnecessary and ugly.

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Owain Vaughan says...
2:06pm Thu 22 Nov 12

I'm sure these gargantuan road signs breach the Traffic Signs Manual which states: "Signs MUST give road users their messages clearly and at the correct time. The message MUST be unambiguous and speedily understood".

I defy anyone to read and understand the colossal roundabout sign approaching the Ebbw Bridge roundabout from the motorway. They managed to make it four times the size of the original, place it nearer the roundabout than its predecessor, around a blind corner, obscured by street lights and ten feet off the ground! Oh and 50% of it is unintelligible to the majority of people who need to understand it.

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Robert Shillabeer says...
8:23pm Thu 22 Nov 12

Having driven for many years around most places in South Wales and further afield I have become immune to the Welsh words as I do not speak Welsh it has not caused me any problem as I suspect anyone else who only understand English. There is however an understandable situation that anyone who speaks Welsh should as a native of Wales have the right to have thier own language used in thier home country.

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Llanmartinangel says...
7:45am Fri 23 Nov 12

Agree but was commenting on the fact that 'urban clutter', already an issue in the UK as authorities think everything needs a sign, is much worse here because the signs are twice as bad. Caerleon village used to be an attractive 'drive through' and it's common quite a feature. Now it's ruined by idiotic over-signage.

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Owain Vaughan says...
11:05am Fri 23 Nov 12

A case in point is where everything has to have a Welsh translation, even when the place names in question are already in the Welsh language - e.g. Bargoed/Bargod. Made-up names like Risca/Rhisga, and the silliest of all Brynmawr/Bryn-mawr. If that isn't utterly ridiculous I don't know what is!

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Dee-Gee says...
7:34pm Fri 23 Nov 12

I always pronounce Cil-y-coed with a soft c.

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Dolieboy says...
6:35pm Tue 27 Nov 12

Has anyone ever wandered up to a member of the Police and started talking in Welsh ?

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Owain Vaughan says...
2:35pm Wed 28 Nov 12

Sounds like a good candidate for a Freedom of Information request.

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Spark says...
3:59pm Wed 28 Nov 12

Well, you know the old saying,
"Taffy was a Welshman,
Taffy was a thief ..."

(This is a tongue in cheek comment before anyone gets their undies in a twist).

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