Back in your school days, you may recall Irish spelling being much harder than English, and your homework coming back with red pen because you missed the placement of the humble fada.
Well, at least you're not the one who wrote this sign.
On the island of Bute in Scotland, the sign welcoming visitors has - just like in Ireland - two languages, with
, our sister tongue, proudly represented.Unfortunately, it says – more or less – "Welcome to Penis Island".
Facebook user Coinneach Combe posted the photo on Sunday, with the observation that whoever did the translation for Argyll and Bute councils left the grave accent - what we would think of a backwards fada - from the word
.Unfortunately, the result -
- is the Irish and Scots Gaelic word for a penis.Worse, the sign has been standing for years. The mistake in the word itself is the same in Irish or Scots, though there would be differences in the rest of the sentence. The second sentence in Scots reads: "Welcome to the doorway to the beauty of Penis Island."
Speaking to The Scotsman newspaper, local councillor Len Scouller said: “It makes us look bloody stupid."
A language coach also told the newspaper the error is the use of the genitive case, "not the genital case."
Councillor Scouller said he was looking into getting the sign amended.