Arabic rail poster was ‘accurate translation of original Gibberish’
Rail bosses have defended a series of Arabic warning posters that made little sense, claiming they were translated correctly from the original gibberish. Experts had complained that the posters were ‘essentially meaningless’, rendering them ‘as inaccurate as a timetable’ to visiting travellers.
‘May our customers remind us of umbrellas or old bags’ read the original poster. ‘Delays are important to us and also put that bit in Welsh. Don’t lie around or we’ll blow you for comfort and safety. We would like to take this reminder to keep peeled eyes and pricks in your ears.’
Transport secretary Justine Greening has called for future communications to be clearer. ‘We have enabled a discussion environment’ she claimed. ‘We hope to mediate a solution by hosting a blame storm, which should empower some select low-level sackings.’ Civil servants have worked closely with rail employees to hurriedly correct the signs, adding an apostrophe before every letter ‘s’.
A representative for passenger groups spoke out about the situation, leading by example in his use of plain English. ‘We asked him to summarise how he felt about the industry’s attitude to customers and the plans for a strike during the Olympics’, explained one journalist. ‘He was perfectly clear when he stated ‘they’re all c**ts’.’
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Posted: Jul 24th, 2012 by waylandsmithy
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