What language are the (presumed) no smoking signs on A-Level in?
Just wonderin'
Dear JW,
For a long time we weren't able (and didn't take the time) to identify the languages — aside from the more obvious ones. Then we got some tips from a student (Alejandro Manevich), and after some checking, we can now confirm all of them:
KOURENI ZAKANO: Czech
REYKINGAR BANNADAR: Icelandic
NE FAJCIT: Slovak
EL PROBIDO DI FUMAR: Portuguese (but with traces of Italian)
RAUCHEN VERBOTEN: German
NA CAITEAR TOBAC: Gaelic
Several people helped identify the last phrase. Not knowing Gaelic, our staff wasn't able in earlier attempts to figure out the verb form "caitear" from the dictionary. Given the number of responses, we'll just trust what people have said. The promised reward goes to Peter Wandler who was the first (this year) to say "Gaelic."
—RAE 8/28/92