# My, sir, what a lovely vanity plate you have! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 4, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792 "2008-06-04T20:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Koldanar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@Koldanar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koldanar)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/1 "2008-06-04T20:20:00Z")
Mundane, pointless, and I MUST share. Yesterday I was heading home, and while on the phone with my friend I saw something that made me do a double take, ask her to hang on so I could take a picture, and then…well took that picture. [Behold the Vanity Plate!](http://img76.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0603081813ajs4.jpg) I felt I HAD to share this one with my fellow dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/2 "2008-06-04T20:24:20Z")
:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/3 "2008-06-04T20:25:12Z")
Rectum? Damn near killed 'im! ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/4 "2008-06-04T20:27:47Z")
I was all ready to come up with some witty reply to whatever appeared, but my reaction to actually seeing it is much like **Shayna’s**. I can’t help but wonder if there is another tag out there with the below on it. Tubgirl ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/5 "2008-06-04T20:50:09Z")
_STARE_ I’d love to know what they told the DMV/DOT/Whatever when buying their plate. I mean, aren’t you supposed to put down an explanation of the string you want to use so they can check it? (I know people fib, but that fib I want to hear!) ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/6 "2008-06-04T21:04:23Z")
[Nerdy vanity plate thread](http://www.flickr.com/photos/novembering/2500953243/in/set-72157605119420163/)? ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/7 "2008-06-04T21:19:28Z")
Here’s a plate I snapped not too long ago in Berkeley: [![](https://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c26/Ghanimatrix/various%20stuff/?action=view¤t=HAXORZ.jpg) ](https://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c26/Ghanimatrix/various%20stuff/?action=view¤t=HAXORZ.jpg) Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Blue-Sighted_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/8 "2008-06-04T21:32:21Z")
Well, that ain’t your grandfather’s obscenity! **Troy McClure SF** , was that deliberate or serendipity? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/9 "2008-06-04T21:54:54Z")
As to the car in the OP – I wonder if it has a custom-opening trunk? ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/10 "2008-06-04T22:16:18Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] :eek: [/QUOTE] Cubed! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/11 "2008-06-04T22:24:58Z")
[QUOTE=lizardling] _STARE_ I’d love to know what they told the DMV/DOT/Whatever when buying their plate. I mean, aren’t you supposed to put down an explanation of the string you want to use so they can check it? (I know people fib, but that fib I want to hear!) [/QUOTE] “Well, it’s a Nissan Maxima SE and my friends all call me ‘The Goat’ because of my beard. I’d considered GOATS SE but I didn’t like the look of the double S” ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/12 "2008-06-04T22:28:01Z")
I was expecting that A55 RGY one, with the (O-shaped) Florida peach in the middle. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/13 "2008-06-04T22:35:15Z")
If it the plate in the OP draws complaints, it can be withdrawn by the DMV. In California, that’s happened with a Yiddish word meaning fart and another word that slips my mind at the moment, but that spelled something rude when seen in the rear-view mirror. The authorization process now includes a mirror test, according to the article in the newspaper magazine. (Don’t ask which newspaper - it was too long ago.) So you’re not home free just because you slip one by. The plate can be narked on. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/14 "2008-06-04T23:12:14Z")
I still have to wonder how many languages they test candidate plates against. There’s a sector of people in my neighbourhood who have plates containing words in Cyrillic characters spelt out with the most-similar-appearing Roman equivalents. (It’s kind of like leetspeak. There’s a name for it, but I don’t know what it is.) Does the Ministry of Transportation hire Russian and Ukrainian speakers to screen their plates? How about Somalian? Greek? Math? Edit: Re: the OP: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/15 "2008-06-04T23:34:30Z")
[QUOTE=Yllaria] If it the plate in the OP draws complaints, it can be withdrawn by the DMV. In California, that’s happened with a Yiddish word meaning fart and another word that slips my mind at the moment, but that spelled something rude when seen in the rear-view mirror. The authorization process now includes a mirror test, according to the article in the newspaper magazine. (Don’t ask which newspaper - it was too long ago.) So you’re not home free just because you slip one by. The plate can be narked on. [/QUOTE] I think I also heard a similar story about a family with a name that could be construed to be objectionable, and they were complaining because it was legitimately their surname. The judge said tough nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/16 "2008-06-04T23:49:48Z")
I also heard about a court reporter who had a place with TPUBG on it. She had it for years, but someone who could read stenotype figured out that it meant FUCK. That little machine reporters use doesn’t have all the letters of the alphabet on it, so combinations are used, and it’s done phonetically; so TP=F and BG=K. She claimed it was her own abbreviation for “if I can,” but nobody believed her for some strange reason. And my husband grew up with a kid whose last name, while spelled quite differently, was pronounced the same as the word on the plate in the OP. I wonder if he’s learned about the, er, alternate meaning attached to that pronunciation and changd it yet. :eek: :eek: :eek: ---
**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:** [June 5, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/17 "2008-06-05T00:10:11Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] I still have to wonder how many languages they test candidate plates against. There’s a sector of people in my neighbourhood who have plates containing words in Cyrillic characters spelt out with the most-similar-appearing Roman equivalents. (It’s kind of like leetspeak. There’s a name for it, but I don’t know what it is.) Does the Ministry of Transportation hire Russian and Ukrainian speakers to screen their plates? How about Somalian? Greek? Math? Edit: Re: the OP: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: [/QUOTE] If the information in the article is still correct, they don’t have multilingual folks checking applications, they have regular folks with a lot of X-to-English dictionaries. And a mirror. So the math would probably slip by. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/18 "2008-06-05T00:13:15Z")
[QUOTE=The Blue-Sighted Shadow] **Troy McClure SF** , was that deliberate or serendipity? [/QUOTE] I think he mentioned that said car is owned by the icanhascheezburger guy. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/19 "2008-06-05T00:32:02Z")
I remember reading a complaint someone wrote to a state DMV (I think it was on The Smoking Gun) about a vanity plate reading “LES MIZ.” Apparently not aware of the musical, he thought it was a pro-lesbian message (les ms.). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792/20 "2008-06-05T00:37:58Z")
[QUOTE=Yllaria] If it the plate in the OP draws complaints, it can be withdrawn by the DMV. In California, that’s happened with a Yiddish word meaning fart and another word that slips my mind at the moment, but that spelled something rude when seen in the rear-view mirror. [/QUOTE] Was it **3M TA3**? [Here’s the story](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0721041plate1.html) of a guy who couldn’t convince the Washington state Department of Licensing that his plate referred to something called a Manual Inline Lift Fluctuator. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-sir-what-a-lovely-vanity-plate-you-have/451792.md?page=2)