# What do you think of your initials/monogram? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 6, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110 "2023-06-06T16:23:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [June 9, 2023, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/41 "2023-06-09T12:09:55Z")
Fascinating. Thank you. While I can certainly see the “family resemblance” between the two 3-symbol items, recognizing that connection in the wild would be quite another matter. But it is very pretty. These logos as visual poetic homages to kanji is a very different sort of thing than what logos are built from and recognized as in alphabetic languages. Not too far under the surface this suggests a very different form of perception of the world for people raised in pictographic languages vice alphabetic ones. A topic for another thread some day I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/42 "2023-06-09T17:00:04Z")
My initials are the same as those used to abbreviate a well-known state university about 1000 miles away. Back in the 80s, my GF managed to apply for (and obtain) a personalized license plate for me to use on my classic muscle car. (Side note: She had it for about a month, during which time she kept it a secret as she waited for my birthday. My existing license plate was, of course, not legal to use during this period. It’s a miracle I didn’t get stopped for this.) I showed appreciation for the new personalized plate and put it on my car. About a month later, I noticed that people were honking their horns at me as I was driving to work. Some of them were yelling and a couple of them were even flipping me off. I was mystified. I mentioned it to a couple people when I got to work and they immediately pointed out that our local university was playing basketball against the out-of-state university that evening to advance in a national championship play-off. My license plate gave everyone the impression that I was a graduate or a fan of that distant university. I got a new license plate a few days later. I was pretty confident that this was going to come up again in the future since both schools were basketball powerhouses. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/43 "2023-06-09T17:24:21Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Back in the 80s, my GF managed to apply for (and obtain) a personalized license plate for me to use on my classic muscle car. (Side note: She had it for about a month, during which time she kept it a secret as she waited for my birthday. My existing license plate was, of course, not legal to use during this period. It’s a miracle I didn’t get stopped for this.) In the 1980s cops didn’t have online laptops & plate scanners. Any plate with an unexpired sticker was assumed good. It was a more innocent time. More fun too, for nearly every illicit flavor of “fun”. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/44 "2023-06-09T18:05:03Z")
True, but thinking about it back then, if I had been stopped for any reason (speeding, failure to come to a complete stop) or if I had received a parking ticket, I might have had quite a shock. “What do you mean this isn’t a valid plate?” Also, I believe that I had (unknown to me) the responsibility to turn in the old plate within 10 days. And, yes…she had forged my signature to do all this. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/45 "2023-06-09T18:56:04Z")
Yeah, quite. That could have gotten _real_ awkward had you come to officialdom’s attention for some other reason. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110.md?page=2)