Malta it is a two-lingual nazzjoni

Published: August 10, 2013 at 1:23pm

Take a look at the new government signage indicating the beaches on which dogs are permitted.

bajjej, which then becomes bajjiet further down

– ‘within these bays dogs are allowed to swim’

– Masraxlokk

– a comma instead of a fullstop and the use of the definite article where it has no place (“the dogs” instead of “dogs”): These are public bays, the dogs have to be…

– a warning that your dog will be taken away if it drops faeces (“solid discharge”, actually)

– “you are required to carry with you a dog bag (for cleaning the faeces)”

– a warning that if dogs do not obey the law, their owners will be fined

Bajjej 1

Bajjej 2




33 Comments Comment

  1. Dan says:

    Wow, so professional.

  2. Mr Meritocracy says:

    How amateurish.

  3. H.P. Baxxter says:

    I wouldn’t bother if I were you. That’s one battle I could never win. In the end I just gave up.

    • Harry Purdie says:

      No shit?

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        No shit at all. I stopped correcting anyone’s grammar. All it does is it stops your career in its tracks because everyone has you down as cocky.

        Would you correct your own boss, Harry?

        I thought so.

        That’s what we’re up against.

  4. ciccio says:

    “…remove any solid discharge your dog has emitted…”

    Are there any Kyoto emission levels the dogs must comply with?

  5. Jozef says:

    ‘Jitnizzlu jghumu’, as if dogs need coaxing to jump in.

    Keep them on a leash, yep, a 25m long one, and watch them wrap it around every arm and leg within radius. .

  6. Kevin Zammit says:

    “you are required to carry with you a dog bag (for cleaning the faeces)”

    They had to specify why to carry a dog bag with you – for cleaning the faeces as opposed to what? Picking up pastizzi li jwaqqaw JPO w Franco?

  7. Joe Micallef says:

    “….for cleaning the faeces”.

    How does one do that? Dry cleaning.

  8. Typically Labour says:

    And since when do we speak of ‘bajjiet pubbliki’ instead of ‘bajjiet pubblici’?’

    How is it possible that a simple notice consisting of a few lines ends up with so many glaring errors?

    Is this the best effort that the Hon. Parliamentary Secretary and with him a Communications Coordinator paid to the tune of thousands of Euro a month can come up with?

    Way to go Varist with those adult classes …..

  9. Lorry says:

    Pathetic

  10. jimmy says:

    This comment from the timesofmalta.com is pertinent and amazingly in context:

    isabelle sciberras

    Today, 14:26

    jekk ticekkjaw facebook tindunaw li lis-spellings gew irrangati. afarijeit zar li zball jihu kulhadd! kulhadd imaqdar.. ahjar lewwel kulhadd jara lizbalji li jamel hu. U iringrazjaw lalla li alinqas hemm bajjiet li wiehed jista jihu il-klieb jowmu minajr ma jkun qed jikser il-ligi. mela ax ma kienx aw xejn kulhadd kin igorr u issa ax aw 5 kulhadd qed igorr xorta!!!!

  11. GB says:

    This country has become a continuous celebration of gross mediocrity, under the auspices of Joseph, Michelle, Varist and the rest of the merry ‘marmalja hamalla’ and ‘xempji viventi ta’ injoranza grassa’.

    Shouldn’t Varist be very interested in these happenings of low levels of literacy within the ranks of his own administration set-up?

  12. Ta'Sapienza says:

    Not if Eugene Sapiano and Lawrence J M Galea had their way.

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130809/letters/English-speakers.481389

    Funny how it’s not Genju and Wenzu.

  13. SM says:

    They are trying to sell new restrictions on dogs and their owners as some kind of new right for said dogs and owners.

    Until today it was legal to take your dog swimming anywhere as long as the area was NOT a designated bathing zone (cordoned off with orange buoys) and you kept the dog on a leash. Is it still so?

    • Ghoxrin Punt says:

      And as far as I knew, the designated bays covered the months of June to September, which means that in the other eight months of the year you are allowed to take your dog to the beach.

      Is that still the case?

  14. xifajk says:

    Forsi kellha xi haga li taljenha lil Sabrina Agius meta ghamlet proof-reading tal-poster.

  15. Stella says:

    How cute. I’m using my Karta Anzjan to take my doggie for a day in Gozo so that he may swim at Marsalforn. It’s nearer than Marsaxlokk and only costs me 1 euro on the ferry. Hurray for Labour and Malta u l-bahar tad-doggies ukoll.

  16. dutchie says:

    Haha
    I read this first on Di-ve news. They wrote that dog owners had to “carry a dog back for the faeces”.
    There’s no escape, is there?

    Also funny that Tigne Point qualifies as a bay.

  17. Jimmy says:

    @GB

    The PL was never interested in happenings like these because its strength lies in the ignorance of its followers. Facebook and other social networking applications have brought to the fore the extent of this ignorance of the ‘Mintoffjan’ masses.

  18. BawWaw says:

    Are these actual beaches?

  19. Che' John Wayne says:

    A totally new concept of law. Hitherto, only persons (human beings) were the subject of criminal law (assuming the prohibition on taking dogs to swim is sanctioned by the Criminal Code or the Code of Police Laws or some other law).

    Now, dogs too are subjects of penal law. The Maltese version says “jitnizzlu jghumu” – so far so good as the decision would be made for them by others.

    The English version states, however, “dogs are allowed to swim” implying the decision is made by the dogs themselves.

    Would this mean that the dog would be fined or jailed if in breach? What a mess. This country is incredible.

    How did we manage to make it to this level? This is not just linguistic incompetence but a complete absence of logic too.

  20. Ganna says:

    Possibli m’hemmx frazi bil-malti flok “Dog Friendly Bays”?

  21. Tracy says:

    Ghandhom ragun jghidu li hawn hafna illitteralizmu fil-pajjiz. Qed juruh huma stess b’permezz ta’ dawk kollha li ngaggaw minn barra c-civil.

  22. Josette says:

    “… u jekk il-kelb tiegħek iħammeġ, jinġabar minnufih”. So, once the dog does its business, apparently the owner is supposed to pick it up. So why carry the bag … to put the dog in it?

  23. Claire Farrugia says:

    Not to mention bajjiet pubbliki, instead of pubblici. Who’s in charge of this?

    [Daphne – The PS for Animals, one Roderick Galdes.]

  24. Lomax says:

    It is also glaringly obvious that whoever wrote this does not know the distinction between “beach” and “bay”. They probably translate from “bajja” (the plural of which, incidentally, is “bajjiet”) and hence they make no distinction between ramla (beach for which the correct translation is not even “bajja” but “indeed “ramla”) and “bajja” meaning beach. Shameful.

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