TEHRAN, Mar30-An apparent CIA poster appealing to Russian speakers to join US intelligence has been derided for failing to reconcile Russian and English grammar and mismatching fonts. The poster allegedly popped up in Washington, DC.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -The poster was spotted by Reuters' David Brunnstrom at Foggy Bottom station in Washington, which is home to many government agencies, including the US State Department, the Department of Interior, as well as the George Washington University.
The poster bears the CIA emblem and a link to its official website in the right bottom corner and appears to be a recruitment ad aimed at Russian-speaking Americans that comes with a twist: if you don't know Russian, you'll be unable to read it since it is written in a mix of the two languages.
Judging by the ad's contents, the CIA is indeed in dire need of capable Russian speakers, as a glaring mistake has crept into it. Unless, of course, it was intentional and was meant as a trial – it is a spy agency ad, after all. Russian netizens, however, denied the US spooks the benefit of the doubt, and flocked to the comment section to rub in the CIA's blunder.
The first part of the sentence, written in Russian, translates to: "Your command of foreign languages" and should be followed by a singular verb according to the rules of both Russian and English grammar. However, the second line goes "are [instead of is] vitally important to our national security."
And for those willing to forgive the wrong verb form, there are two bonus levels to nitpick at: one, the CIA copywriters' inability to reconcile their Cyrillic and Latin fonts; and two, the image of an Asian-looking man accompanying the banner.
Twiterratti were ready with their proof-reading skills and condescending smirks.
Your Comment