Tesco cash machine offers ‘free erection’ because of mistake translating sign into Welsh
Poor Tescos, never mind the investigation over the overstating of profits – the shame of this story is hard to live down. Just shows the perils of failing to understand rural communities and settings like Wales. It tells us:
A branch of Tesco in Wales has been accused of “promising more than it can deliver” after a mistake in the Welsh translation of “free cash withdrawals” meant it ended up offering a “free erection”.
Aberystwyth councillor Ceredig Davies said the new cash machine put up this morning at a Tesco Express was the topic of all the “gossip around town this lunchtime”, with the error immediately noticeable to Welsh speakers.
He later went down to see for himself, and posted a picture on Facebook with the caption: “’Codiad am Ddim’ translates colloquially as ‘Free Erection’.”
Mr Davies said: “We’re accustomed to people making an effort to consider the Welsh language but not checking it properly. We come across plenty of examples – but few are as entertaining as this.