Monday, August 13, 2007

Welsh Signage

I ran across this comment in a ScienceBlog regarding the change in US road signs to a new font called 'clearview', which purports to make the signs more readable. Hey, I'm all for more readable signs, but one of the commenters on the blog had this to say, which made me snort with laughter in a very unlady-like fashion.
The problem is there is no consistency as to where on the signs the two languages are placed. Sometimes the English is on top and the Welsh on bottom, sometimes it's the other way around, and sometimes (albeit rarer, as far as I can recall) they are side-by-side (and, I assume, which one is on the left probably varies?). That makes navigating in Wales a real treat, especially since the spelling in either language isn't always agreed--the map says Bygtih (I just made that up) whilst one sign says Buthr/Yobithge/10miles and the next sign says Bezoug/Bigyth/12miles, and when you finally get to the place (3 miles later), the "Welcome to..." sign says Oythiryg. All pronounced "Neigh".

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