Last night I was behind Ford F150 with RADMOM
NW could also be “New.” But, still, probably an obscure reference.
On an ill-lit section of freeway**, I was passed by a black Prius-sized* car with CA plates: SCALCHK. They went by in a hurry, no time to tell if the driver was tanned and had long blond hair.
*I didn’t recognize the car. They were moving fast and went by pretty quickly. It did, however, have very distinctive V-shaped tail lights in its spoiler wing.
**I was tempted to write “on a dark desert highway” but I was really still in the city and the windows were up, so no cool wind in my hair either.
MEDUSAXO. Sorry, don’t need any hugs or kisses from Medusa. Thanks anyway.
QUAPAW, which turns out to be the name of a Native American group from the Arkansas-Oklahoma region. This one was in New York State, though, with an NY license plate. Judging from the bumper stickers, the owner is a Vietnam vet who strongly dislikes socialism (I think, as that sticker had too many words on it to read safely in traffic).
Scored a couple so far today:
-
L⎵⎵⎵I on a FL standard plate on a Mercedes S-series sedan. Up to now I’d never seen a two-character personalized FL plate. They’d done a nice job of putting enough spaces between the L & I that they were easy to read outboard of the visually confusing central logo of a standard FL plate. Based on the demographics of where I saw it, it means “I’m from Long Island, NY”. I suppose it could be someone’s initials, but IMO that’s not the way to bet.
-
JET⎵AWAY on a FL standard plate on a Hyundai SUV. They also had a handicapped driver hang tag on their mirror, so their jetting days are probably mostly behind them.
-
BAAZO on a FL standard plate on a different brand of SUV. Driver’s name or nickname?
-
272 on a FL standard plate on a generic sedan. I’d never seen a 3-digit FL personal plate before either. What’s two hundred seventy two? Beats me. If we substitute letters for numbers as in 1=A, 2=B, etc., we get BGB which is also pretty baffling except maybe someone’s initials.
I also saw a couple plates that were just his-n-hers initials like JFK DRK. Not worth remembering or mentioning.
Saw this one on the road an hour ago. I was a passenger.
Cute. I like it.
Even better if it had been BEYOSEF. I wonder if that was already taken or this person left that one for the next person with that idea?
I’m in traffic, following, as a passenger,
HYPNO RX
ROO AAH, whatever that means. An unremarkable silver sedan.
Both NY standard plates with plate holders from car dealers or repair shops
Probably a take on one of Army’s or Marine’s semi-official cheers.
I scored 2 more to/from dinner tonight:
-
BISHOP⎵E on a FL standard plate on an Escalade mongo SUV. “Bishop” being the term for most practicing Mormon men, and an Escalade having the passenger capacity appropriate to a smallish Mormon family, I tentatively conclude this dude named “E” is Mormon. And fairly successful at his career.
-
SBABA on a FL standard plate on a Tesla Model 3. I have no clue. But it has some interesting potential. Anyone?
I spotted two tonight:
- GANJ on a Mercedes C Class. A reference to the Ganges River, maybe? There is a pretty large Indian-American population around here.
- SHANTA on a Toyota crossover. I’m guessing the driver’s nickname.
Shanta in the Indian tradition is a woman’s name meaning ‘peaceful’, ‘serene’ or ‘tranquil’. It is my most beloved niece’s name.
Might also be a sly way to have “Ganja” on a plate, though I think that your explanation is more likely.
On a car I momentarily mistook for my own (hey, it was twilight, both red sedans, and it was parked two spots away from mine): GR8PA. A great-grandpa? A better than average grandpa? A particularly good dad?
PURE IO on a Tesla S
•
Added:
And O SKOOL 3 on a Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible
Old school
•
Added 2:
And 9QSTLM8 — likely a chess fan
I’ve been sick, so I hadn’t left the house since Tuesday until I ventured to the grocery store this morning. I was immediately rewarded with BLKSNAKE on a large black truck at a stoplight. That’s the name of the National Guard unit stationed at the local airport. Then right after that I was following a white SUV with FERG09 and a license plate border that said “Fergie’s Car”.
Then I saw something really weird in the grocery store parking lot. Two cars parked next to each other with almost the same exact plate. EAA0SH (with a zero) on one and EAAOSH (with an O) on the other. I have no idea what either of them are supposed to mean and the cars they were attached to were totally different. One was a bright blue SUV and the other a grayish SUV. I’m honestly surprised that the state allowed both plates because they were really hard to tell apart. I did a literal double-take and reread both of them. The car owners had to have been at the store together, this was too much of a cosmic coincidence.
I am surprised about that O/0 thing. FL doesn’t allow the letter O at all. Every oh is really a zero. The distinction between B and 8 is subtle until you know what to look for.
I don’t know where in the USA you are but here’s a theory on your mystery plates.
EAA can stand for the Experimental Aircraft Association. Which is the national booster club for people who build their own private airplanes, usually from kits. They are headquartered in Oshkosh WI and have the worlds largest fly-in “Airventure” at the airport there every year. The FAA identifier for that airport is … OSH.
See
and
Dumb question about those plates: Are you sure they’re from the same state?
Having grown up in Wisconsin, and having done market research for the EAA during their annual Fly-In convention when I was in graduate school, “EAAOSH” is really clearly “EAA Oshkosh” to me.
Is @Dr.Girlfriend in a state which doesn’t require front license plates? If so, I’m wondering if they saw front “plates” on those cars, which where unofficial / privately made ones.
Yes, positive. They were both the Indiana alternate “In God We Trust” plates.
Nope, these were rear plates. Indiana doesn’t require front plates. But the EAA Oshkosh actually does make some kind of sense and I never would have thought of that. We do have a lot of people here in this area who moved here from Wisconsin when GM built a plant here. So that could be the explanation. Thanks!
The EAA Airshow every summer attracts both professional and sport pilots (and their planes) from across the U.S., and the world; for a week or so, Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh becomes, temporarily, the world’s busiest airport (based on traffic movements). My late uncle was a private pilot and EAA member, who lived in Virginia, and who regularly flew his Beechcraft Bonanza to Oshkosh for the convention.
My guess would be that those two cars were driven by EAA members, who may or may not also be associated with the GM plant.
EL YOTA1 — on an orange 4Runner
3 SMURF — I’m guessing they’re a parent with 3 rugrats
YODA NRD — on a black Ford Edge
WIR LES — another Silicon Valley geek
B 1 AMG — on a G Wagen
ADVDT25 — on a Porsche Taycan. I have NFC what this could mean.