# 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:** 49
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/961 "2024-12-18T12:53:23Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > If you’re drawing up the plans and specifications, they’re called truncated dome pads. > > I knew you’d want to know. Interestingly, I learned that as I was looking for the picture. It’s from a wiki page and I happened to see that term there. I also learned this different terms for different patterns. [![](https://mechanicalbooster.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/tactile-indicators-1.png) ](https://mechanicalbooster.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/tactile-indicators-1.png) [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Tactile_Paving_Types.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Tactile_Paving_Types.png) [![](https://mechanicalbooster.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Directional-block-tactile-indicators-.png) ](https://mechanicalbooster.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Directional-block-tactile-indicators-.png) Wiki goes into more detail about what the different shapes/styles mean. > **[Tactile paving](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactile_paving)** > > Tactile paving (also called tenji blocks, truncated domes, detectable warnings, tactile tiles, tactile ground surface indicators, tactile walking surface indicators, or detectable warning surfaces) is a system of textured ground surface indicators found at roadsides (such as at curb cuts), by and on stairs, and on railway station platforms, to assist pedestrians who are visually impaired. > Tactile warnings provide a distinctive surface pattern of truncated domes, cones or bars, detectable by a lo... I also saw a mention of different colors, but that’s a rabbit hole I didn’t feel like going down right now. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/962 "2024-12-18T13:54:55Z")
I started out by seeing a good suggestion at the beginning of the day **B⎵SANE** , and then I saw the doctor is trying, with limited success to be subtle in their **T&RD1S** minivan. And there was a cute puppy design on the **R3SCU** license plate. `//i\\` ---
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/963 "2024-12-18T14:33:44Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > How’d they get an ampersand (&) on a license plate? I’ve never seen or heard of a state that can do special chars beyond a non-significant hypen/dash. California offers some symbols including: heart, hand, plus sign. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/964 "2024-12-18T14:40:24Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Wiki goes into more detail about what the different shapes/styles mean. > **[Tactile paving](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactile_paving)** > > Tactile paving (also called tenji blocks, truncated domes, detectable warnings, tactile tiles, tactile ground surface indicators, tactile walking surface indicators, or detectable warning surfaces) is a system of textured ground surface indicators found at roadsides (such as at curb cuts), by and on stairs, and on railway station platforms, to assist pedestrians who are visually impaired. > Tactile warnings provide a distinctive surface pattern of truncated domes, cones or bars, detectable by a lo... And those truncated dome pads / city titties / tactile paving are a PITA and are more trouble than they’re worth. A local company replaced their parking lot and were required by their city to put that tactile paving at its edges. They put them in to pass inspection but they’re talking about eventually ripping them out. They were installed less than a year ago and the edges of those yellow pads are coming up and are a tripping hazard. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/965 "2024-12-18T15:23:41Z")
Just now I saw a Tesla Model 3 with **ZILLION**. The plate background was supporting FL’s statewide foodbank / anti-hunger charity. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/966 "2024-12-18T16:19:39Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > They put them in to pass inspection but they’re talking about eventually ripping them out. They were installed less than a year ago and the edges of those yellow pads are coming up and are a tripping hazard. I’ve never seen a proper plate that was properly installed come up. There are cheap plates that don’t have good anchors. And if you were planning to take them up, you might not include the anchors. They are annoying to run a shopping cart over. Especially the long parking lot ones. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/967 "2024-12-18T16:37:57Z")
XMAS EVE [![](https://i.imgur.com/WC78aNs.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/WC78aNs.jpeg) ---
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/968 "2024-12-18T17:46:33Z")
I _think_ this is another Road America reference. My WAG is RA ELK LAKE is Road America Elkhart Lake. [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/bIhDdoi.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/bIhDdoi) ---
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/969 "2024-12-18T17:47:45Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > My WAG is RA ELK LAKE is Road America Elkhart Lake. That’d be a very good guess, I think. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/970 "2024-12-18T21:01:06Z")
I had a good haul today. In a single row in a large strip center parking lot I found 3 (plus my own 😉 ) … A nondescript car w a standard FL plate background reading **DATA ⎵MN1**. “Data man” or “data mine(r)”? Another nondescript car w a standard FL plate background reading **⎵LA⎵⎵CA1**. Apparently someone from greater Los Angeles like myself. Or maybe not. Yet another nondescript car w a standard FL plate background reading **M⎵⎵ND⎵⎵MS**. Someone named M from North Dakota & Mississippi? That one has me baffled. On the drive home from that parking lot I found a late model Kia SUV with **GLAUCIA**. Which word I didn’t recognize, and assumed the plate was a Latino or perhaps Italian last name. Which it might well be; we have plenty of both ethnicities living around here… But Googling taught me these new things, which might be a much more interesting backstory to their plate. Especially the illegal candidate part. > **[Glaucia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaucia)** > > In Greek mythology, Glaucia (Ancient Greek: Γλαυκία) was a daughter of the Trojan river god Scamander. > When Heracles went to war against Troy, Deimachus, a Boeotian, one of the companions of Heracles, fell in love with Glaucia. But Deimachus was slain in battle before Glaucia had given birth to the child she had by him. She fled for refuge to Heracles, who took her with him to Greece, and entrusted her to the care of Eleon, the father of Deimachus. She there gave birth to a son, whom she called ... or > **[Gaius Servilius Glaucia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Servilius_Glaucia)** > > Gaius Servilius Glaucia (died late 100 BC) was a Roman politician who served as praetor in 100 BC. He is most well known for being an illegal candidate for the consulship of 99 BC. He was killed during riots and political violence in the year 100 BC while pursuing consular candidacy. > Glaucia was probably descended from consular ancestors, making him one of the nobiles. His public career started with his holding the quaestorship some time before 109 BC. > In the year 104 or 101 BC (T. R. S. Brough... A bit later on that same drive home I came upon a 4-door Jeep with the Miami Heat NBA team plate background. Those plates only hold 5 characters and theirs was **4ENIX**. That’s not a standard pattern AFAIK so I think it’s a personal plate. A variation on “Phoenix” or “freak+Phoenix” or … ??? Maybe a reference to the “phrenics” part of “schizophrenics”. There’s also the brain structure called the “fornix”, but although it’s real important to normal brain function, it’s a pretty weird choice for a license plate. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/971 "2024-12-18T21:39:44Z")
I saw a veteran’s tag today. He either had been awarded 2 bronze stars or a silver and a bronze star. It was hard to tell because the entire plate was partially obscured by a lift for a medical scooter. The tag said “DOH”. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/972 "2024-12-18T21:45:21Z")
I used to see one that said GOT HIT. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/973 "2024-12-18T23:19:07Z")
It’s a ‘Marine Corps thing’ [![](https://i.imgur.com/2uvWUSs.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/2uvWUSs.jpeg) • [![](https://i.imgur.com/Ac4KYCR.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/Ac4KYCR.jpeg) ---
**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:** [December 19, 2024, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/974 "2024-12-19T05:41:48Z")
After I posted the GOT HIT plate, I remembered I also see a Navy plate that says NIMITZ. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/975 "2024-12-19T13:19:50Z")
I guess these days it is important to advertise your skills like **AWS⎵PRO** is doing. I was a little wary of getting too close to **TK8FLT** in case they really did, because that would like mean we were going over a cliff. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/976 "2024-12-21T15:49:52Z")
Saw a couple yesterday whilst out running errands/Christmas shopping: On a Jeep Wrangler, I think - “TAPOUT” - obviously a wrestling or MMA fan On a Chevy of some kind - “NRS EMY” - assuming a medical professional Bought a Chevy Bolt last week. When I get the title/registration in my hands, going to order custom plate “CHRG”. “CHARGE”, “CH4RGE”, and “CHRGD” are already taken. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/977 "2024-12-21T17:23:34Z")
There are other words you could use: ohm, joule, ampere, watt(probably taken), electron, [and more](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volt) ---
**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:** [December 21, 2024, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/978 "2024-12-21T18:04:08Z")
I like **ZAPPP** with as many Ps as fit. Even better if you could get a “!” on the end. 😉 ---
**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:** [December 21, 2024, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/979 "2024-12-21T19:27:33Z")
Get ZAPP and a sticker of Kif rolling his eyes at it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FiZ9bw6yt44/hqdefault.jpg "Futurama - Every time Kif was annoyed by Zapp") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiZ9bw6yt44) ---
**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:** [December 21, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965/980 "2024-12-21T20:10:22Z")
I can hear Kif’s sigh from here. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965.md?page=48) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/custom-licence-plates-seen-in-the-wild/992965.md?page=50)