Mangled language takes the shine off tribute plaque
A PLAQUE designed to honour key workers’ efforts during the pandemic has been ridiculed for being littered with errors.
In just 35 words, the inscription contained a spelling mistake, nine unnecessary capital letters and an erroneous full stop. It also says the pandemic began in March 2019, rather than 2020.
The plaque, alongside a newly planted tree, was meant to serve as a reminder of the dedication shown by key workers and volunteers over the past two years. Labour councillors have demanded to know how Conservativeled Swindon borough council allowed such glaring errors. Posting on Twitter, a spokesman for the group wrote: “Surely someone looked at it before the ceremony?”
Adrian Williams, treasurer of the Queen’s English Society, a charity founded in 1972 to promote the “maintenance and knowledge of the English language”, said it was “regrettable” no one had checked the plaque.
He added: “It should have been easy enough to find someone with the literacy skills needed to tidy up several curiosities of spelling and punctuation that will inevitably distract the public from the tribute’s purpose: to record appreciation of an achievement. How sad – not that there are errors to be found (though that is a cause for a regret), but that no one thought to say: ‘Before we go ahead with this, are we confident that we’ve got it right?’ How more sad yet that there will be people saying: ‘What’s wrong with it?’”
Councillor David Renard, the council leader, apologised for the errors. He said: “Thousands of key workers and volunteers in Swindon have risked their
‘Curiosities of spelling and punctuation will distract from the plaque’s purpose _ to record appreciation’
lives and given their best to support and serve others in our town. I offer my sincerest apologies to all the key workers and volunteers that the wording on the plaque had errors on it.
“As soon as it was spotted prior to the event, a replacement was ordered but could not be made in time for the event and we did not want to postpone the dedication. We will be forever grateful for the role key workers played throughout the pandemic, which was why councillors unanimously agreed to create a lasting tribute to mark their service.”
When Auguste Lumière, co-inventor of the cinematograph, was added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, his name was misspelt. In 1995, a statue of Babe Ruth, the left-handed baseball legend, was erected at Oriole Park in Baltimore, clutching a right-hander’s glove. The key workers of Swindon might remember that these giants’ reputations were not seriously harmed when they reflect on the plaque unveiled in their honour by Swindon Borough Council recently. The 35-word inscription praising them for their work in the pandemic contained a spelling mistake, nine unnecessary capital letters, an erroneous full stop, and wrongly claimed that it all began in March 2019. Conceding that this version would be remembered for the wrong reasons, the apologetic Conservative leader of the council has ordered a replacement.