Asda offers 'free alcohol' with incorrect Welsh translation

Supermarket confirms it won't actually be giving away booze in Cwmbran store

Asda in Cwmbran (Google)

It is the kind of supermarket offer which would tempt many a customer.

But when shoppers in Cwmbran, south Wales, saw a notice at the local Asda offering “free alcohol”, it was, it turned out, not quite their lucky day.

The supermarket had to explain the sign, in Welsh, had been translated incorrectly. It should have said the somewhat different “alcohol free”.

Guto Aaron, who saw the mix up, posted an image of the fuddle notice on Twitter. “Get yourself to Asda,” he advised followers. “According to their dodgy Welsh translations they are giving away free alcohol."

A spokesperson for the supermarket said it was now changing the sign, which read “am ddim” as opposed to “di-alcohol”.

In a statement, they said: “Mae'n ddrwg gennym [we are sorry].

“We would like to thank our eagle-eyed customers for spotting this mistake. We hold our hands up and will be changing the signs in our Cwmbran store straight away."

They confirmed there were no plans to give away free booze.

Mr Aaron told the BBC: "To be fair, for a private company, Asda's signs are usually correct so when there is an unfortunate mistake like this, you just have to laugh. At least they've turned their self-service checkouts to Welsh.

"I have much more of an issue with the way the sign looks than its content. They have chosen such a dark font for the Welsh to ensure it's practically invisible from afar. It feels deliberate."

It is not the first time an incorrect Welsh translation has ended up on a sign.

In 2008, Swansea Council famously printed an out-of-office response on a road sign reading: "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated."