Over the weekend, I was transferring some old photos as part of a computer back-up. In so doing, I came across a photo of a sign I saw a couple of years ago.
When I first stumbled across this sign, I was on my way home from a pub in Hay-on-Wye, having knocked a few back. This sign confused the heck out of me that night: What does ‘dim o gwbl’ mean? Was it an acronym? Was I dimming o gwbl in a no dim-o-gwbl zone? How would I know? Would the police arrest me?
It was only the following morning, when I looked at the photo I had taken of the sign, did I realise that it was a no parking sign! In the UK, the red circle and sash, over the blue background is the symbol for no parking. The ‘dim o gwbl’ is Welsh for ‘at any time.’ Realising that Hay-on-Wye is on the Wales-England border, the sign made much more sense than I originally realised. No need to worry about the police posting wanted posters for me, with a picture my face captured on some CCTV camera, warning the public of a dangerous dim-o-gwbler on the loose in Herefordshire.
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3 Responses to “You’d better not dim o gwbl!”
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[...] I saw this sign on a street in Buenos Aires last week, I was reminded of the ‘dim o gwbl ’ sign post previously discussed on chickenmonkeydog. You never know exactly how your words might [...]
Ha! I had this same (drunken) thought 20 years ago when I was an exchange student in Wales. Thought it was so funny I stole the sign.
Still have it too.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for sharing. I was really starting to worry that no one else would have been confused by the sign … I am glad there are others out there like me. Ha-ha!