# Custom Licence Plates — Seen in the Wild **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 11, 2023, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965 "2023-11-11T02:25:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 36
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/701 "2024-09-20T17:31:36Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I can never remember which the slash is supposed to indicate, though Zero, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/702 "2024-09-20T17:36:11Z")
I just tried googling it and got references both to its being a zero, and to its being a letter (though not generally an American English letter.) So my confusion may be due to its being used both ways; which, if true, means it’s not useful to distinguish the two. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/703 "2024-09-20T17:38:27Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > So my confusion may be due to its being used both ways; which, if true, means it’s not useful to distinguish the two. Apparently, it’s commonly used for a zero in engineering, scientific, and computer programming contexts, specifically to avoid confusion with the letter O. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/704 "2024-09-20T17:42:12Z")
How about the context of model numbers or are-you-a-human tests? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/705 "2024-09-20T17:43:55Z")
A complete lack of consistency, I would imagine. If the people creating the “are you a human?” tests are competent, they’d avoid using O and 0 for that very reason. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/706 "2024-09-20T19:00:55Z")
But further down > The initialism has jokingly been said to stand for “Kill Mother-Fucking [Depeche Mode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depeche_Mode)”, coined by the band on their first U.S. tour and used as recently as _Kunst_ I couldn’t have told you what it actually stood for, but my group of friends always went with the Depeche Mode joke. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/707 "2024-09-20T20:55:35Z")
Just saw a newish BMW M5 with plate **M5RCY**. So a ref to the car model and to “mercy”. Or at least that’s how I decoded it. I wonder which usage of “mercy” they meant? I’m in Nashville right now so something evangelical is much more likely than had I seen the same plate at home in Miami. Or something like “Mercy sakes! This is one fast car! Wow!” ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/708 "2024-09-20T21:15:02Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I wonder which usage of “mercy” they meant? Is there more than this one? [![](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTFPSWWUTfmL9PaW8RMnsHHBVFqAlK1xSdsObmYgd95xJkVtXiz) ](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTFPSWWUTfmL9PaW8RMnsHHBVFqAlK1xSdsObmYgd95xJkVtXiz) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/709 "2024-09-20T23:40:58Z")
I have no idea what that’s a picture of. The dress & hair looks like a teen or early 20s hearthrob from ~1975. After that I got nuthin. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/710 "2024-09-21T00:31:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I have no idea what that’s a picture of. It’s John Stamos, 1990s vintage, from when he was in the sitcom “Full House.” Apparently “Have Mercy!” was his character’s catchphrase. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Vs__5Ifs4X8/hqdefault.jpg "Every "Have Mercy" From Full House | Full House") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs__5Ifs4X8) ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/711 "2024-09-21T01:29:16Z")
kenobi\_65 & thorny locust, et alia: as a memory jogger, I have deduced that the slash in the Ø is meant to represent the slanted line in the Z in the word ZERO. QED ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/712 "2024-09-21T03:33:33Z")
Which may be useful if whoever chose the slash is using that convention, and not the one in which it indicates pronunciation of a letter. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/713 "2024-09-22T02:18:23Z")
The few fonts I’ve seen (on computer screens, anyway) that do this tend to use a dot, not a slash, in the zero, because of this confusion. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/714 "2024-09-22T02:19:16Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Apparently, it’s commonly used for a zero in engineering, scientific, and computer programming contexts, specifically to avoid confusion with the letter O. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and punch cards were used to program computers I filled out many a coding sheet. Because zeroes were much more common than Os in BAL, it was the latter that got the slashes. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/715 "2024-09-22T02:23:35Z")
KMFMS: [http://www.kmfms.com/](http://www.kmfms.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/716 "2024-09-22T14:12:19Z")
OH PATTY. Reminds me of a good friend, Patti R. [[Album] OH PATTY ![](https://i.imgur.com/4cH5NBT.jpeg?fb "OH PATTY") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/rUQ4YBr) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/717 "2024-09-22T14:42:13Z")
**RYEZUP** : you’ve got to RISE UP! [![](https://i.imgur.com/Mf1OjaE.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/Mf1OjaE.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/718 "2024-09-22T20:37:06Z")
I wonder if that refers to politics, or whiskey? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/719 "2024-09-22T20:38:00Z")
True. It might. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/720 "2024-09-23T00:38:31Z")
Either way **REPRESENT!!** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965.md?page=35) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965.md?page=37)