Silly place names - this is not a problem Cranfield has to wrestle with. Our nine letter name has three vowels adding flavour and intonation, robustly packaged up in six consonants. But an almighty row has broken out in Varteg in Wales which purists - AKA the Welsh Language Commissioner - has declared should be spelt correctly in the Welsh way Y Farteg (still pronounced Varteg)
I am naturally sympathetic to language identity even if it means time and trouble and takes up some resources. I have two objections to bilinguality in Wales, however.
First, during our Welsh holidays phase of family life I felt that bilingual road signs were difficult to take in. As you approach a road sign, your eye is straining to pick up the message. When there is double the text and 50 per cent is indecipherable you are probably focusing on that sign (at the expense of the road) for too long. Just saying.
See below
Secondly I object when it means places are called Farteg.
The blog had a good chortle with Dull in Scotland and Boring in the US recently. And we won't talk about the embarrassing place names in Austria and Germany. But I think Varteg needs to be saved for the sake of common sense.
Aren't you glad you live in good ol' Cranfield?
Read more at BBC Wales
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