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tdn
10-26-2007, 10:43 AM
88H H88
scout1222
10-26-2007, 10:45 AM
I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees plates and wonders the same thing.

My instinct is that it's GOT to be. Are the plates in your state usually six characters? And are they usually in a number, number, letter letter, number number format?

Maybe the car is being driven by Howard Hollis and he graduated or did something remarkable in 1988.
Giles
10-26-2007, 10:50 AM
The number 8 is lucky for Chinese people, and H is the 8th letter of the alphabet, so it's either very, very lucky or a vanity plate for someone from China.
tdn
10-26-2007, 11:00 AM
Are the plates in your state usually six characters? And are they usually in a number, number, letter letter, number number format?
Yes and no.

They used to be in 123-ABC format, now I think they are in AB-1234 format.
Boozahol Squid, P.I.
10-26-2007, 11:10 AM
No clue as to whether or not that's a vanity plate, but I have one guess as to the meaning of it if it isn't..
88 or HH are often used by neo-nazi groups as a reference to "Heil Hitler". Were there Maltese cross bumper stickers on teh car?
OneCentStamp
10-26-2007, 11:14 AM
The owner of the car is named after the protagonist in his parents' favorite Nabokov novel, and he owns two pianos.
scout1222
10-26-2007, 11:15 AM
Hmm, in that case I'd say that since they don't follow the pattern, it probably IS a vanity plate.

Which means we'll spend the rest of our lives (until we get distracted by something shiny) trying to figure out WHAT IT MEANS.
tdn
10-26-2007, 11:38 AM
88 or HH are often used by neo-nazi groups as a reference to "Heil Hitler". Were there Maltese cross bumper stickers on teh car?
No, and it wasn't a motorcycle with a side car.

It is an SUV parked at a medical school. Harvard, in fact. I sincerely hope that we don't have a new Dr. Mengela in the making.
Morgyn
10-26-2007, 12:03 PM
I saw one the other day that I'm also sure is a vanity plate, but I have no idea what it means:

PI KNOTR

All I can think of is PI (K)not R(ational), but that doesn't really make sense.
KidScruffy
10-26-2007, 12:22 PM
88H H88
Weird... I was driving home yesterday and I thought to myself that I disliked cars whose exteriors were asymmetrical -- i.e., with a spare tire off to one side, or the license plate off to the side also. Then I thought to myself that if I ever got a vanity plate, I would get a symmetrical one, and I started trying to figure out what a cool symmetrical license plate would be. I never got around to 88H H88, but who knows, maybe that was my OCD soul mate.
brownie55
10-26-2007, 12:32 PM
Weird... I was driving home yesterday and I thought to myself that I disliked cars whose exteriors were asymmetrical -- i.e., with a spare tire off to one side, or the license plate off to the side also. Then I thought to myself that if I ever got a vanity plate, I would get a symmetrical one, and I started trying to figure out what a cool symmetrical license plate would be. I never got around to 88H H88, but who knows, maybe that was my OCD soul mate.
Do they need dual exhausts, too? Because for me, that's ideal.
ArizonaTeach
10-26-2007, 03:16 PM
ICU81MI

Inscrutable.
tdn
10-26-2007, 03:21 PM
ICU81MI

Inscrutable.
I see you ate one am I? I see you ate one Michigan?
Hostile Dialect
10-26-2007, 03:29 PM
It's sexual. "I see you ate-a me."
tdn
10-26-2007, 03:39 PM
It's sexual. "I see you ate-a me."
Italian accents are so hot.
Liberal
10-26-2007, 04:33 PM
I don't think it's a Hitler thing. Googling "88H" and "H88" separately yields lots of interesting possibilities from music to warfare.
Big_Norse
10-26-2007, 04:39 PM
This has been bothering me so much I was going to start a thread on it, but was a bit unsure where it belonged, so I'll tag onto this thread and save myself the bother.

I saw a plate the other day that read:

God is 25

Obviously it's a vanity plate, but what could it possibly mean?
Eleanor of Aquitaine
10-26-2007, 04:54 PM
This has been bothering me so much I was going to start a thread on it, but was a bit unsure where it belonged, so I'll tag onto this thread and save myself the bother.

I saw a plate the other day that read:

God is 25

Obviously it's a vanity plate, but what could it possibly mean?Plates can't have lowercase letters, can they? Was it "GODIS25"? Because that could be other things. Like "Go Di's 25", which might mean something to the owner.
Robot Arm
10-26-2007, 05:03 PM
88H H88If I had that license plate, I would be so tempted to put it on upside-down.
Hostile Dialect
10-26-2007, 05:06 PM
This has been bothering me so much I was going to start a thread on it, but was a bit unsure where it belonged, so I'll tag onto this thread and save myself the bother.

I saw a plate the other day that read:

God is 25

Obviously it's a vanity plate, but what could it possibly mean?

That guy is one of those middle-aged-earth creationists.
Big_Norse
10-26-2007, 05:06 PM
Plates can't have lowercase letters, can they? Was it "GODIS25"? Because that could be other things. Like "Go Di's 25", which might mean something to the owner.Right, no lower case, that was just me being neat. But the spaces were definitely there. "GOD IS 25"
Liberal
10-26-2007, 06:07 PM
I think it may be a reference to Isaiah 25.
Miller
10-26-2007, 06:25 PM
First thing I thought of when I saw it was "Neo-nazi." I'd love to be wrong, but that strikes me as the most likely interpretation, unless it's something so entirely personal that no one outside of the driver and his immediate social circle could possibly know what it refers to.

I generally don't like personalized plates, but I've seen three in the last couple years that I liked:

LCNZPL8

1D6 DMG

And, I swear I'm not making this one up:

DRUNK
VarlosZ
10-26-2007, 06:37 PM
I liked: IOU1NA.

A few years ago, a friend and I tried to come up with the vanity plate that would result in the most traffic stops. I think we settled on "COPKLLR."

LCNZPL8
I don't get it.

Edit: Ohhhhhh. I do get it.
Big_Norse
10-26-2007, 06:51 PM
I think it may be a reference to Isaiah 25. Would this be widely recognized as the reference? Why this passage in particular to put on a plate?
Ignatz
10-26-2007, 07:32 PM
I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees plates and wonders the same thing.

My instinct is that it's GOT to be. Are the plates in your state usually six characters? And are they usually in a number, number, letter letter, number number format?

Maybe the car is being driven by Howard Hollis and he graduated or did something remarkable in 1988.

I used to be a plate spotter, or at least interested observer, and yesterday (in N.C.) saw a plate from Massachusetts (where I used to spot them) and it had two numbers at the front of the number, two numbers at the back of it, and two letters (DD) in the middle. No dash. Looked strange but was not a vanity plate. .
Ignatz
10-26-2007, 07:35 PM
If I had that license plate, I would be so tempted to put it on upside-down.

Like OLE LEE did, years ago, with his 337 370 plate, according to Readers' Digest. .
Sapo
10-26-2007, 07:50 PM
A few years ago, a friend and I tried to come up with the vanity plate that would result in the most traffic stops. I think we settled on "COPKLLR."


I remember reading about a guy who had VOID (or BLANK, or something to that effect) as a license plate and got a brazillion tickets and citations where there was no license indicated. I think it even said some states were forbidding those plates.
bbs2k
10-26-2007, 08:50 PM
You've spotted a member of the Illuminati!
Risha
10-26-2007, 09:20 PM
1D6 DMGI don't get it.
Tristan
10-26-2007, 09:24 PM
I don't get it.


1d6 dmg is directions in some roleplaying games to roll 1 six-sided die for damage from a weapon or action.

Awesome.
Risha
10-26-2007, 09:28 PM
1d6 dmg is directions in some roleplaying games to roll 1 six-sided die for damage from a weapon or action.

Awesome.Ah, gotcha. I don't play them, but I may still have to cash in my geek cred for failing to recognize the "1d6".
Sapo
10-27-2007, 07:45 AM
1d6 dmg is directions in some roleplaying games to roll 1 six-sided die for damage from a weapon or action.

Awesome.
What kind of a crappy paper car is that that only does 1d6 of damage?
Lute Skywatcher
10-27-2007, 12:48 PM
I remember reading about a guy who had VOID (or BLANK, or something to that effect) as a license plate and got a brazillion tickets and citations where there was no license indicated. I think it even said some states were forbidding those plates.My dad worked with a guy who had that problem with NONE.
lavenderviolet
10-27-2007, 01:39 PM
First thing I thought of when I saw it was "Neo-nazi." I'd love to be wrong, but that strikes me as the most likely interpretation, unless it's something so entirely personal that no one outside of the driver and his immediate social circle could possibly know what it refers to.
Agreed. Most likely a neo-Nazi, since the association is strong enough that Target had to pull clothing with "88" on it after finding out that is what it means to a lot of folks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_%28number%29#Neo-Nazi_symbol
tdn
10-27-2007, 01:57 PM
Agreed. Most likely a neo-Nazi
This was an assigned parking spot, one of eleven, at Harvard Medical School. That's got to be a pretty high up professor or administator. I don't see a person like that being a neo-Nazi. Of course, a student there might disagree.

Then again, I saw the SUV only once, and it was gone for the rest of the day. And I'd never noticed it before. Maybe it was parked there illegally. That's pretty congruent with what a neo-Nazi would do.
Hostile Dialect
10-27-2007, 02:22 PM
I don't get it.

Edit: Ohhhhhh. I do get it.

I don't...
E-Sabbath
10-27-2007, 02:26 PM
I've seen a few of those. Including I11II11 sort of things. They're designed to screw with license plate cameras. I've also seen bumpers where the plate is shifted to the left side and tilted up at a 45 degree angle, for the same reasons.
NinjaChick
10-27-2007, 02:30 PM
I don't...
"License plate". It's phonetic.
Hostile Dialect
10-27-2007, 02:45 PM
What kind of a crappy paper car is that that only does 1d6 of damage?

It's the license plate that only does 1d6, not the car.
Musicat
10-27-2007, 02:50 PM
88 has a significance to a ham (amateur radio operator). It means "love and kisses". But the HH doesn't mean anything, AFAIK. It could be a love note to someone whose initials are HH.

Howard Hughes, I love you.
Sapo
10-27-2007, 03:25 PM
I remember reading about a guy who had VOID (or BLANK, or something to that effect) as a license plate and got a brazillion tickets and citations where there was no license indicated. I think it even said some states were forbidding those plates.
Couldn't find the article, which I think was on NYT, but here is the Snopes on it:

http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/noplate.asp
Hostile Dialect
10-27-2007, 03:30 PM
Wouldn't it be a great way to become immune to the tickets you actually earn?
Musicat
10-27-2007, 04:02 PM
Wouldn't it be a great way to become immune to the tickets you actually earn?A friend of mine had a similar idea when odd/even gas lines were required. First, get a vanity plate like "GAF 333". If odd plates could fill up on M-W-F, and evens and vanities on T-H-S, no one would challenge him on odd days. But if challenged on even days, he would say, "but it's a vanity plate, and I can prove it."
Johnny L.A.
10-27-2007, 04:13 PM
A friend of mine had a similar idea when odd/even gas lines were required. First, get a vanity plate like "GAF 333". If odd plates could fill up on M-W-F, and evens and vanities on T-H-S, no one would challenge him on odd days. But if challenged on even days, he would say, "but it's a vanity plate, and I can prove it."
My first car's license plate was MY66MGB. When rationing came around, even-numbered tags could fill up on even-numbered days, and odd-numbered tags and vanity plates could fill up on odd-numbered days. Since I had an even number I could fill up on even days, and since it was a vanity plate I could fill up on odd days.
Musicat
10-27-2007, 04:24 PM
My first car's license plate was MY66MGB...Since I had an even number I could fill up on even days, and since it was a vanity plate I could fill up on odd days.So did anyone challenge you on odd days? :)
Baldwin
10-27-2007, 04:32 PM
You see a lot of vanity plates in Atlanta. My favorite so far is PSSYCHSR. Not very inscrutable.
lavenderviolet
10-28-2007, 08:16 AM
Maybe it was parked there illegally. That's pretty congruent with what a neo-Nazi would do.
Hehe. That wouldn't surprise me. Of course, I might be biased towards thinking that because a few months ago I saw a white PT Cruiser with a vanity license plate that had some variation of "White Power" on it (minus a few vowels) and had a "did I really just see that?" moment.
LSLGuy
10-28-2007, 09:22 AM
A friend of mine had a similar idea when odd/even gas lines were required. First, get a vanity plate like "GAF 333". If odd plates could fill up on M-W-F, and evens and vanities on T-H-S, no one would challenge him on odd days. But if challenged on even days, he would say, "but it's a vanity plate, and I can prove it."One of the rules for vainty plates in all jusridictions I've dealt with are that vanity he plates cannot be in the same letter/number pattern as the normal plates they're issuing.

So the only way somebody could get GAF 333 is if that was not the pattern in use in that state. And if not, it's clearly a vanity and so ineligible for odd-day gas. Folkswho live near state borders could maybe play games with the differences between plates on this side & that side of the border ...
2gigch1
10-28-2007, 09:36 AM
My job involves listening to scanners a lot. Recently on Md State Police in Frederick, MD.

1st officer calls in plate on radio: "I need a 10-28 on a tag. It reads 1080"

2nd officer excited "How fast is he going?"

1st officer "Speed limit, turn light out."

2nd officer "Darn!"

10-80 is code for high speed chase....
Ignatz
10-28-2007, 09:39 AM
You see a lot of vanity plates in Atlanta. My favorite so far is PSSYCHSR. Not very inscrutable.


Many years ago, in NC I saw MUFFDIVR and more recently MERDALOR, but, to the OP - maybe, if Mass. plates use the pattern of 2 letters then 2 numbers, then 2 letters, maybe it was just his/her turn to get HH88HH. As mentioned in my post #26, I did just spot a Mass. plate with 2 numbers, then 2 letters (DD) then 2 numbers.
Liberal
10-28-2007, 11:47 AM
Would this be widely recognized as the reference? Why this passage in particular to put on a plate?I think it would be widely recognized among the faithful in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. It is about the power, mercy, and faithfulness of God. One key verse (9) is:

In that day they will say,
"Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."
tdn
10-28-2007, 11:53 AM
As mentioned in my post #26, I did just spot a Mass. plate with 2 numbers, then 2 letters (DD) then 2 numbers.
So how was she?
Ignatz
10-28-2007, 11:59 AM
So how was she?

Last I heard, she'd missed a period.
tdn
10-28-2007, 12:11 PM
Last I heard, she'd missed a period.
Uh oh. Disavow any connection you've ever had with her, traffic or otherwise.
tdn
10-31-2007, 09:54 AM
I saw a white PT Cruiser with a vanity license plate that had some variation of "White Power" on it
Hmm. I was wrong in my past posts. It's not an SUV.

88H H88 is on a PT Cruiser.
Sunspace
10-31-2007, 03:08 PM
I saw a weird one today: An Ontario plate with BBII8888. And of course I immediately thought of the SD and this thread.
Sophistry and Illusion
10-31-2007, 03:40 PM
My favorite license plate is the Florida one that (unintentionally) appears to read "ASS ORGY". Linky-loo. (http://www.snopes.com/photos/risque/license.asp)

Another favorite is 3M TA3.
Maggie the Ocelot
10-31-2007, 07:00 PM
I vote for the "Lucky Chinese" interpretation.

I live near Monterey Park (huge Chinese population) and it sometimes seems that every other store is named 88 something. Apartment #8 very often has a higher rent (because of being more desireable) than the other apartments, etc.

Also, given that Chinese-American immigrants have a strong culture of encouraging their children to succeed academically (almost as competitive about it as Koreans), that would fit with it being spotted at Harvard.
KlondikeGeoff
10-31-2007, 08:48 PM
OK, I'm probably dense, but yesterday saw a Porsche Carrara with: XI IX.

If it wer IX II I'd get it

Clear that up for me?
Sunspace
10-31-2007, 08:54 PM
Maybe it's "911", but rearranged so that it's without the political implications?
tdn
10-31-2007, 09:24 PM
Maybe it's "911", but rearranged so that it's without the political implications?
Six?
Sunspace
10-31-2007, 09:26 PM
Six?XI = 11, IX = 9. So it's 911 without being "911".

Is a Porsche Carerra related to a Porsche 911? If not, my theory goes out the window.