A GREETING card meant to celebrate St David’s Day has become an accidental comedy hit after shoppers spotted its Welsh message makes absolutely no sense – and, even better, it is still on sale.

The card, sold by online retailer Moonpig, reads: “Hapus Dewi Sant Dydd.”

Unfortunately for the designers, that translates back into something closer to “Happy David Saint Day” or “Day Saint David Happy” rather than the correct Welsh phrase, “Dydd Dewi Sant Hapus.”

In other words, the words are right – just in completely the wrong order.

The mistake was first highlighted by Nation.Cymru, prompting plenty of amusement online, with some joking it looked like the result of a lazy copy-and-paste from an automatic translator.

The Herald decided to check for itself.

And yes – as of today – the card is still live and available to buy on Moonpig’s website.

Customers can personalise it and add it to their basket just like any other design, with no sign the message has been corrected.

One reader joked: “It’s like they put the words in a hat and picked them out at random.”

Another described it as “peak AI Welsh”.

For Welsh speakers, the error is immediately obvious. Welsh sentence structure differs from English, so simply translating each word individually rarely works. It’s the linguistic equivalent of writing “Birthday happy you” on a cake.

There was also online chatter that the dragon artwork may be facing the wrong direction – though by that point, the language had already stolen the show.

With St David’s Day cards meant to celebrate Welsh culture, the gaffe feels particularly ironic.

Still, if you fancy a collector’s item or a bit of office wall décor, you might want to be quick. Once someone at Moonpig finally runs it past an actual Welsh person, this one could quietly disappear.

Photo caption: The mistranslated St David’s Day card still available for sale on the Moonpig website (Pic: Moonpig).

HEALTH and Social Care workers across Wales are increasing their confidence to use the Welsh language with patients and colleagues, thanks to a Welsh Government programme to strengthen language choice within the health service.

Between 2023 and 2025, around 1,500 staff enrolled on the cyrsiau Codi Hyder (Confidence-building courses), with around 6,000 workers taking part in the wider Learn Welsh programme for the Health and Social care sector. The Confidence-building courses are led by the National Centre for Learning Welsh, which is funded by the Welsh Government, in partnership with health boards, supporting staff who can speak some Welsh but feel unsure about using the language in a clinical context. Those who follow the course receive one-to-one or small group training over 10 to 12 weeks, and then receive ongoing support to help them use the Welsh language naturally in their day to day work.

The National Centre’s evaluation shows that the Confidence-building courses in 2024-2025 had a positive impact, with over 90% saying they had more confidence to speak Welsh with colleagues, and 88% feeling more confident to use Welsh with patients and their families.

One of the employees who has benefited from the course is Julie Matthias, Bereavement Counsellor with Hywel Dda University Health Board. She felt comfortable speaking Welsh with children before taking the course, but less confident to use the language with adults. She wanted to offer more counselling sessions in Welsh and use the language more proactively at work. With her tutor, they practised conversations related to her work and read Welsh resources about grief and bereavement. She now starts conversations in Welsh with colleagues and offers a Welsh language service to children, families and anyone who wishes to use it.

She said: “The sessions were flexible and tailored to my needs. Being able to focus on the vocabulary of grief, bereavement and self-care has been very helpful in my work.”

Mark Drakeford, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Welsh Language, said: “Julie’s experience shows how practical support can make a real difference. Being able to speak to patients and families in the language they feel most comfortable using is an important part of delivering good care, especially when people are vulnerable.

“As we mark the Defnyddia dy Gymraeg (Use your Welsh) campaign and celebrate 20 years of the Iaith Gwaith (Working Welsh) badge this week, it’s encouraging to see so many people taking part in the courses and seeing their confidence levels rise.”

Chief Executive of the National Centre for Learning Welsh, Dona Lewis, added: “The National Centre is pleased to lead a comprehensive Learn Welsh programme which is attracting different audiences to the Welsh language, and supporting Health and Social Care workers in Wales to use more of the language.

“Interest in our courses is high, and we look forward to continuing to expand our services in order to support the workforce to strengthen its bilingual skills.”

A PEMBROKESHIRE school, which has become a fully Welsh medium one, is to change its name following the backing of senior councillors.

Members of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet, at their November 3 meeting were asked to support a revised Instrument of Government for Ysgol Gymunedol Croesgoch.

The instrument of government sets out how the governing body is constituted and establishes it as a corporate body; it must set out the name of the school along with the composition of the governing body.

A report for members, presented by Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language Cllr Guy Woodham, said: “Since 2007, primary and secondary schools have been categorised using the defining schools according to Welsh medium provision, non-statutory guidance.

“The school was categorised as a transitional school, which is, predominantly English-medium schools but with significant use of Welsh Foundation phase pupils and Key Stage 2 pupils are taught in both languages, but more emphasis is given to the English language. The Welsh language is used to teach between 20-50 per cent of the curriculum generally.

“In the previous Welsh in Education Strategic Plan for the Council 2016-2021 the school was identified to become a Welsh medium school.”

It said, over a transition of seven years, the school now functions as a fully Welsh Medium School, adding: “All staff at the school are Welsh speakers so there have been no human resources implications from the report. Children are now taught in the medium of Welsh.

“Following the change in language categorisation of Ysgol Gymunedol Croesgoch from a ‘transitional school’ to a ‘Welsh Medium’ school in September 2025, the governing body, following consultation with the school community and its governing body wish to change its name from Ysgol Gymunedol Croesgoch to Ysgol Gymraeg Croesgoch.”

It finished: “Cabinet approval is required for the name change of the school Conclusions It is considered that the governing body’s proposal is sensible and reflects the language that learners are taught at the school.”

After the recommendation was moved by Cllr Woodham, members unanimously backed approval of the revised Instrument of Government.