diff --git a/client/coral-framework/actions/auth.js b/client/coral-framework/actions/auth.js
index 7b3f089ba..d689aeb63 100644
--- a/client/coral-framework/actions/auth.js
+++ b/client/coral-framework/actions/auth.js
@@ -188,7 +188,13 @@ export const fetchSignUp = (formData, redirectUri) => (dispatch) => {
       dispatch(signUpSuccess(user));
     })
     .catch(error => {
-      dispatch(signUpFailure(lang.t(`error.${error.message}`)));
+      let errorMessage = lang.t(`error.${error.message}`);
+
+      // if there is no translation defined, just show the error string
+      if (errorMessage === `error.${error.message}`) {
+        errorMessage = error.message;
+      }
+      dispatch(signUpFailure(errorMessage));
     });
 };
 
diff --git a/errors.js b/errors.js
index 6cd8d8da0..67ae0693a 100644
--- a/errors.js
+++ b/errors.js
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ class ErrAuthentication extends APIError {
 
 // ErrContainsProfanity is returned in the event that the middleware detects
 // profanity/wordlisted words in the payload.
-const ErrContainsProfanity = new APIError('Suspected profanity. If you think this in error, please let us know!', {
+const ErrContainsProfanity = new APIError('This username contains elements which are not permitted in our community. If you think this is in error, please contact us or try again.', {
   translation_key: 'PROFANITY_ERROR',
   status: 400
 });