Lost in translation: litter sign ruder than intended
A COUNTRY estate has apologised after an internet translation of a sign into Hindi gave the words a rather different meaning.
The Lulworth Estate in Dorset erected signs asking visitors not to drop litter on the beach near the Durdle Door landmark.
However, in the Hindi translation the word “rubbish” has been incorrectly translated. Instead of being asked not to litter, Indian visitors are being told not to drop “b-------” or nonsense on the beach.
Caroline Sharp, who works at the estate, admitted that the mistake was “embarrassing”. She said: “I can only apologise if anyone has taken offence from this. It’s a good lesson learnt not to use any kind of Google translation.”
Puneet Sharma, who took the picture of the sign on the Jurassic Coast beach, told the BBC: “During a visit to the beach I saw this board and noticed the Hindi script – it was quite hilarious.”
He said the word would be used in conversation in response to a remark that you considered to be untrue or silly, not physical rubbish.
Durdle Door has seen a rapid increase in visitors from India due to the Bollywood film Housefull 3, which features scenes shot at the landmark.
As well as Hindi, the signs also include correct translations in Spanish and Polish.