Welsh cyclists were confused in 2006 to discover a temporary sign at the Barons Court roundabout between Penarth and Cardiff:

CYCLISTS
DISMOUNT

LLID Y BLEDREN
DYMCHWELYD

The first part is fine … but llid y bledren is Welsh for “inflammation of the bladder.”

“Road signs are mistranslated on an enormously regular basis, usually because people use online translators,” Aran Jones of the Welsh language group Cymuned told the South Wales Echo. But even using a human translator doesn’t guarantee a good result. In Swansea, a sign posted in October 2008 read:

NO ENTRY FOR HEAVY GOODS VEHICLES. RESIDENTIAL SITE ONLY.

NID WYF YN Y SWYDDFA AR HYN O BRYD. ANFONWCH UNRHYW WAITH I’W GYFIETHU.

The latter phrase means “I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated.”

(Thanks, Tom.)