# Is this a vanity plate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 26, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121 "2007-10-26T15:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/1 "2007-10-26T15:43:36Z")
88H H88 ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/2 "2007-10-26T15:45:45Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/3 "2007-10-26T15:50:23Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/4 "2007-10-26T16:00:43Z")
[QUOTE=scout1222] Are the plates in your state usually six characters? And are they usually in a number, number, letter letter, number number format? [/QUOTE] Yes and no. They used to be in 123-ABC format, now I think they are in AB-1234 format. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/5 "2007-10-26T16:10:08Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/6 "2007-10-26T16:14:16Z")
The owner of the car is named after the protagonist in his parents’ favorite Nabokov novel, and he owns two pianos. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/7 "2007-10-26T16:15:46Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/8 "2007-10-26T16:38:52Z")
[QUOTE=Diomedes] 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? [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/9 "2007-10-26T17:03:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Carnacki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Carnacki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnacki)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/10 "2007-10-26T17:22:50Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] 88H H88 [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/11 "2007-10-26T17:32:28Z")
[QUOTE=KidScruffy] 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. [/QUOTE] Do they need dual exhausts, too? Because for me, that’s ideal. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/12 "2007-10-26T20:16:11Z")
ICU81MI Inscrutable. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/13 "2007-10-26T20:21:48Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] ICU81MI Inscrutable. [/QUOTE] I see you ate one am I? I see you ate one Michigan? ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/14 "2007-10-26T20:29:36Z")
It’s sexual. “I see you ate-a me.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/15 "2007-10-26T20:39:35Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] It’s sexual. “I see you ate-a me.” [/QUOTE] Italian accents are so hot. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/16 "2007-10-26T21:33:59Z")
I don’t think it’s a Hitler thing. Googling “88H” and “H88” separately yields lots of interesting possibilities from music to warfare. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/17 "2007-10-26T21:39:44Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/18 "2007-10-26T21:54:32Z")
[QUOTE=Big\_Norse] 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? [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/19 "2007-10-26T22:03:39Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] 88H H88 [/QUOTE] If I had that license plate, I would be so tempted to put it on upside-down. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121/20 "2007-10-26T22:06:43Z")
[QUOTE=Big\_Norse] 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? [/QUOTE] That guy is one of those middle-aged-earth creationists. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-vanity-plate/424121.md?page=2)