Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Fire and donkeys
It is said that a great deal can be lost in translation. This however, is the most unfortunate incident yet:
Scotland's fire services have scrapped hundreds of leaflets after a mistake urged members of the public to jump on a donkey when fleeing a house fire. The leaflet by the Scottish Executive for the eight fire and rescue services was aimed at Urdu readers.
The advice was that anyone leaving a burning building from a window should lower themselves on to cushions.
However, the authors got the Urdu word for cushion mixed up with another very similar Urdu word for donkey.
With thanks to Bob Piper for drawing my attention to it.
Scotland's fire services have scrapped hundreds of leaflets after a mistake urged members of the public to jump on a donkey when fleeing a house fire. The leaflet by the Scottish Executive for the eight fire and rescue services was aimed at Urdu readers.
The advice was that anyone leaving a burning building from a window should lower themselves on to cushions.
However, the authors got the Urdu word for cushion mixed up with another very similar Urdu word for donkey.
With thanks to Bob Piper for drawing my attention to it.
