poileas

[scotia]

"Poileas" - yes that is now an additional emblazonment on Scottish Police Cars. About 1% of the populace in Scotland can speak Gaelic (and these live mainly in the Western Isles), and of these, how many do not understand "Police"? There is currently a concern about tourists mistakenly driving on the right in Scotland - and it has been suggested that there should be better road signage. Yet in the Scottish Highlands (where practically no one speaks Gaelic), the road signs have all had "Gaelicised" names appended - so requiring a much longer read to work out which parts of the message provide a driver with useful information.

[Alaric]

"Poileas" - yes that is now an additional emblazonment on Scottish Police Cars.

There's a similar problem in Wales. Cross the Severn Bridge on the M4 and there are dual language signs with English on top. Head a bit further west and they flip, with the Welsh on top.

[UncleEbenezer]

I rather like these kind of signs. Provides a bit of amusement figuring them out. And the ones I already know - like croeso i gymru - kind-of say I'm somewhere a little bit exotic without needing annoying things like travel documents and foreign currency.

[Dod101]

Yes but it is a serious point that scotia is making. I know of some signs where they must be more than three feet in depth to get all the names in English and Gaelic on to them. It takes an age to find the name you actually want and in the meantime some NC500 tourist comes screaming round the corner behind you.

As has been said many times, if they want to be helpful with a second language it should be Polish. That is or was until recently the second most popular language after English used in Scotland.

Dod

[Lootman]

the ones I already know - like croeso i gymru - kind-of say I'm somewhere a little bit exotic without needing annoying things like travel documents and foreign currency.

There is nothing remotely exotic about Swansea on a wet Tuesday in February.

Yes but it is a serious point that scotia is making. I know of some signs where they must be more than three feet in depth to get all the names in English and Gaelic on to them. It takes an age to find the name you actually want and in the meantime some NC500 tourist comes screaming round the corner behind you.

As has been said many times, if they want to be helpful with a second language it should be Polish. That is or was until recently the second most popular language after English used in Scotland.

Yes, it's like how all signs and official documents in Canada have to be in French as well as English, even though West of Toronto they pretty much all hate the French. It's just ideological pandering.

True about Polish though. My eldest son is learning Polish as he says it is the most useful language he can have. He is putting together a construction business where he is the front man and the workers are all Polish. Hopefully Brexit won't mess with his big idea.

[swill453]

Yes but it is a serious point that scotia is making. I know of some signs where they must be more than three feet in depth to get all the names in English and Gaelic on to them. It takes an age to find the name you actually want and in the meantime some NC500 tourist comes screaming round the corner behind you.

And the point was also that only 1% of Scots speak Gaelic. Nearly 20% of Welsh speak Welsh, so there's some justification for having it on signs.

Every railway station has a Gaelic name on its sign too. Even places with no heritage at all, where they've just made a literal translation of the syllables making up the words. Pointless.

Scott.

[kiloran]

Every railway station has a Gaelic name on its sign too. Even places with no heritage at all, where they've just made a literal translation of the syllables making up the words. Pointless.
Scott.

A couple of years ago I was in a DIY shed (Homebase?) just a few miles north of Glasgow (that well-known hot-bed of Gaelic speakers) and all the signs above the aisles were in english and gaelic. Apart from slowing me down trying to find what I wanted, it must have been useful to 0.0000000001% of their customers.

I wonder if our Nicola offered them a government grant to do it?

--kiloran

[Rhyd6]

In Brittany they have the signs in Breton then French which confused me because I thought "why have they got their road signs in Welsh". My excuse was that I was tired but it took a moment or two to twig. Quite agree that it's not necessary to have the signs in both Welsh and English, I haven't come across anyone in Wales who is unable to speak/read English and it just adds to the cost, paid for of course by the poor taxpayer. Everything we get from the assembly is printed in both English and Welsh, I'd love to know by how much this increases the printing cost, plus we're supposed to be cutting down on waste and I'm 99% sure that most of the Welsh notices end up in the recycling bin.

R6

[robbelg]

Still it's better than Belgium where the signs are often in French OR Flemish (Dutch) but not both, and some town names are VERY different in the different languages.

Rob

[didds]

There is nothing remotely exotic about Swansea on a wet Tuesday in February.

Or Abertawe.

didds

[didds]

I haven't come across anyone in Wales who is unable to speak/read English

Indeed.

Meanwhile back in the late 70s/early 80s Abersytwyth Uni cricket club were playing away somewhere in North wales in the back end of nowheere. They got very lost so stopped a tractor driver and asked for directions.

the bloke looked at them a bit confused.

they repeated their question.

He continued to look confused. Then almost but visibly shook himself and answered with directions. then finished by apologising for his slowness in responding but he hadn't spoken or heard English for all but years - At home on the farm they all spoke Welsh, only read Welsh newpapers and listened to radio Cymru, no TV.

Allegedly - I was told when I joined the cricket club in 1982. Probably apocryphal!

didds

[scotia]

Allegedly - I was told when I joined the cricket club in 1982. Probably apocryphal!
didds

Possibly not apocryphal. I have recently returned from an enjoyable holiday in North Wales, and I was surprised (and pleased) to see how alive the Welsh language was. I expected to hear some oldies speaking Welsh, but on passing groups of teenagers I could hear that they also were chatting away in Welsh. The only place in Scotland where I have heard Gaelic spoken is in the Western Isles, and then only occasionally by older persons.
So if you are in North Wales, and you see a sign on the road that says Araf Slow, its not that there is a local tearaway called Araf that needs to be cautioned on the way he is driving.

[Lootman]

if you are in North Wales, and you see a sign on the road that says Araf Slow, its not that there is a local tearaway called Araf that needs to be cautioned on the way he is driving.

Reminds me of our first European road trip at Uni. We enter Germany, drive for a bit, and then my friend says (in all seriousness) "this Ausfahrt must be a really big city"

[malkymoo]

The first time I visited Germany with my wife, in the first town came to we parked our car and she made a note of the street name in case we needed it to find the car again. It was Einbahnstrasse

[UncleEbenezer]

Oh dear. Well if we're onto those anecdotes, a few years back I was in an ah-hoc choir joining an orchestra for Mahler's 2nd Symphony (a long symphony, but the choral ending is only very short).

One of my fellow singers (knowing I speak German) asked for help with the words. How did Zuruckhaltend fit?
(It wasn't even in the same typeface as the actual text).

[AleisterCrowley]

I'm still searching for the lost village of Llwybr Cyhoeddus
Well signposted, but impossible to find

[didds]

The first time I visited Germany with my wife, in the first town came to we parked our car and she made a note of the street name in case we needed it to find the car again. It was Einbahnstrasse

a chum thought "Einbahnstrasse" meant "To the station" because the road leading to the town's rail statioin had such a sign as you entered it!

didds

[PinkDalek]

I'm still searching for the lost village of Llwybr Cyhoeddus
Well signposted, but impossible to find

I've found one for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCYxeluzp_0

[UncleEbenezer]

I'm still searching for the lost village of Llwybr Cyhoeddus
Well signposted, but impossible to find

Isn't it somewhere below Llareggub Hill?

[quelquod]

I'm still searching for the lost village of Llwybr Cyhoeddus
Well signposted, but impossible to find

Mostly bypassed so if you’re driving you’ll likely miss it in the downpours. Park up and walk.