London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Welsh language oath asks people to curse at God

Welsh language oath asks people to curse at God

A citizenship oath written in Welsh has been criticised for an error asking people to literally curse at God.

Wales' education minister Jeremy Miles says he will write to the UK government to remind them to use the language accurately.

It comes after an emergency mobile text alert in Welsh used a made-up word.

The Home Office, which produced the oath of allegiance, said it recognises the "importance" of correct translation.

People taking part in a citizenship ceremony have to give either the oath or the affirmation of allegiance to the King, as well as a pledge of loyalty to the UK.

A Home Office website, which is still live and has not been corrected, gives the English version of the oath of allegiance as: "I, (name), swear by Almighty God that, on becoming a British citizen, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles III, His Heirs and Successors, according to law."

But in Welsh it uses the term "rhegi", which means to curse. The Welsh for swear an oath is "tyngu llw".

It also uses the word "omnipotent" - which is not a Welsh word - as a translation of "almighty", instead of the Welsh "hollalluog".

Jeremy Miles is the government minister responsible for the Welsh language


The alternative affirmation of allegiance in Welsh includes mutations that should only be used for a female monarch.

Mutations are ways in which words change according to context.

There is also a grammatical error in translating "freedoms" in the Welsh pledge.

Last month, a translation blunder that saw a Slovenian ski resort mentioned in the Welsh version of the emergency alert test was blamed on autocorrect.

For the Welsh for "others safe", the test message read "eraill yn Vogel" instead of "eraill yn ddiogel".


'Status of the Welsh language'


Earlier this week Plaid Cymru MS Llyr Gruffydd told the Senedd while mistranslations or spelling errors can be amusing at first sight "they do send a very unfortunate message in terms of the status of the Welsh language, when we see these examples being tolerated far too often".

He called on the education minister to write to public sector bodies in Wales, and to the UK government, "to encourage them and to remind them of their responsibilities in this regard".

Mr Miles replied that he is "very happy to do that", adding "if there was less emphasis on complaining about renaming Bannau Brycheiniog, and more emphasis on accuracy, we might all be happier".

Rishi Sunak said last week he will keep using the English name Brecon Beacons, which the national park has dropped.

An e-mail out of office message ended up on a road sign in 2008


Mr Miles said that the Welsh government facilitates Welsh language accuracy "through funding resources such as Welsh language spell-checkers and grammar checkers".

The Home Office said: "We recognise that a correct translation of the citizenship oath and pledge on gov.uk is important to reflect the significance of becoming a British citizen."

Manon Cadwaladr, chair of Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru, the Association of Welsh Translators, said: "More and more people are using translation machines and we recognize that the quality of those machines is gradually improving.

"Nevertheless, good and accurate translation is specialist work. It is a craft. It requires specific skills, as well as experience".

She added that "to translate correctly into Welsh requires a real understanding of our language, our culture and the audience".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×