I remember my dad taking me to send a telegram when I was a kid in the 1980s. He told me it was paid by the word, so since he was writing in Vietnamese he'd just join them up and nobody would know any better. Can this be true?
An example: http://archive.org/stream/unicodeuniversa00unkngoog#page/n3/...
where "Acceptance paid into bank, cannot be withdrawn" becomes abjectio in an early example.
More tragic (under Births): "Confined yesterday, Twins, one alive, a girl, Mother not expected to to live" becomes annexus.
Excellent link as well, thanks.