# What is offensive about this Vanity license plate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 2, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542 "2021-07-02T22:17:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [July 3, 2021, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/21 "2021-07-03T00:12:49Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve heard the DMV has a naughty list of letter combinations that can’t be used on vanity plates. > > The computer flags them. The list keeps expanding. One expansion came when it was discovered that some plates were only ‘naughty’ when seen in a rear-view mirror. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/22 "2021-07-03T03:47:50Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > This time my 12 year-old self missed the meaning on that plate. I understand why it took ten years for the DMV to notice. Perhaps it started out as **59PWNDU** and only got to 69 due to inflation. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/23 "2021-07-03T11:22:13Z")
This reminds me of a radio morning show where they played a game of “Tell your spouse an embarrassing secret you’ve been holding back” (I don’t recall the actual name). A man called his wife to admit that he helped their son get a tattoo of a phrase he always used when he won a video game: “Pay me bitch!” She was not amused. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/24 "2021-07-03T11:59:44Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Well the number 69 is banned in the NBA, at least effectively. Nobody has ever worn it and Dennis Rodman was not allowed to have it. Rodman wasn’t allowed to have 69? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/25 "2021-07-03T12:15:47Z")
The DVLA publishes a list of banned combinations each year. I wonder who compiles it? This is from 2020: > | AS20 HOL | GO20 HEL | BS20 TRD | > | --- | --- | --- | > | EU20 BAD | GB20 GUN | NO20 ARM | > | PE20 RVT | BO20 OCK | MU20 DER | > | NO20 JOB | TO20 SRR | MY20 MUF | > | GB20 FKD | BU20 GRD | MU20 GER | You may not be aware that UK plates follow a specific pattern: The first two letters show where the car was first registered. The two numbers show the age (which is why those in the list are all 20) and the last letters are random. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/26 "2021-07-03T12:27:51Z")
I have a Tennessee license plate with 69 included. It’s not a vanity plate. Yesterday my 14 year old grandson noticed the 69 on the plate and made a comment about it. But, it was about a rapper that uses the number in his name. I didn’t mention where the rapper probably got 69 from. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/27 "2021-07-03T14:21:33Z")
Eventually, that kid is going to get a huge shock when he realizes he once talked about oral sex with his granma!. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/28 "2021-07-03T15:01:29Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > I didn’t mention where the rapper probably got 69 from. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zYWT4uYOPvs/hqdefault.jpg "69 DUDES!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYWT4uYOPvs) ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/29 "2021-07-03T16:46:37Z")
Nice. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/30 "2021-07-03T17:54:47Z")
I’ve seen a pink Jeep with “GRRL POWER” stickers and Virginia tag RUB1OUT. I’m 100% sure DMV would have blocked that if they’d thought about it. Actually surprised the “rub out” part didn’t get it noticed even without the sexual reference! ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/31 "2021-07-03T22:43:46Z")
A while back I came across a massive PDF that resulted from a public records request of denied vanity plate applications, covering all 50 state DMVs. A lot of the banned plates were incredibly innocuous, or maybe I am just not getting the dirty jokes involved. Rejected plates included: AFOOT ACES ABNORML ALCHEMY ALRIGHT ALICE ARCHIE AOKAYE AUTISM AVIATOR HEYJUDE HIJINX INSPIRE JELLO JTKIRK KAYAKER L8AGAIN PRAXIS QTRBACK QUAKER SHOPGRL SHOEGRL TOUCAN UNMOVED VRMONTR Sorry no source for this, but here’s a similar [PDF list](https://gray-arc-content.s3.amazonaws.com/KOLNKGIN/Denied%20Nebraska%20License%20Plates.pdf) for just Nebraska. Lots of offensive stuff, but also lots of WTF denials. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/32 "2021-07-03T23:04:44Z")
That reminds me that I have had business dealings with a somewhat sour individual whose last name is “Assenbacher.” I can forgive him his somewhat unpleasant personality; I can’t imagine the grief he must have gotten in school with that name. “Hey, Ass in Back!” ---
**Author:** ![guero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guero/32/136_2.png) [@guero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guero)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/33 "2021-07-03T23:21:16Z")
I suppose some of this can be regional, too. When I lived in Texas a loooong time ago, one of my friends tried to get vanity plates, a simple AMF, and was denied. (For those of you that don’t speak Texican, that’s “Adios, Mother F\*\*\*\*r”.) Currently, here in Hawai’i, my next door neighbor, a very religious fellow has that as his vanity plate. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/34 "2021-07-03T23:24:04Z")
> [@guero](#): > > When I lived in Texas a loooong time ago, one of my friends tried to get vanity plates, a simple AMF, and was denied. That just makes me think of the manufacturer of bowling alley equipment. [![](https://jobapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/amf-logo.png) ](https://jobapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/amf-logo.png) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/35 "2021-07-03T23:26:15Z")
Is it possible that those were rejected, not for inappropriateness, but just because someone else already had them? ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/36 "2021-07-04T00:04:23Z")
That seems very plausible, but as it happens, I’ve found the source of my list: (PDF) [https://www.governmentattic.org/7docs/DC-BannedPlates\_2012.pdf](https://www.governmentattic.org/7docs/DC-BannedPlates_2012.pdf) That source (which turns out to be just the District of Columbia, not the whole nation) contains the D.C. DMV’s response to the FOIA request, referencing “A copy of the list of prohibited personalized license plates: The Forbidden Tag List. enclosed, 68 pages.” So yeah, definitely prohibited and forbidden, who knows why. Unrelated: The State of Washington’s DMV [responded (PDF)](https://www.governmentattic.org/7docs/WA-BannedPlates_2012.pdf) to a request by providing correspondence from citizens appealing their plate application rejections. Some of these are a little hard to take seriously: the person who wants “SHGNWGN” (“Shaggin’ Wagon”) and says it’s about Scooby Doo; the person who wanted “RNOVAU” (“Run Over You”) claiming it’s about his name’s initial R combined with “Nova University”, his club of Nova car afficionados; the person who wanted “FMLYJLZ” (“Family Jewels”) because her name is Jules and she loves her family, etc. etc. ETA the person who claims “FUBAR” stands for “Fun, Unique, Beautiful and Rare.” What a fun job it must be, fielding this kind of correspondence, let alone screening the plate applications themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/37 "2021-07-04T00:08:28Z")
I recall [a case](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1994/04/09/judge-supports-right-to-tag-va-government/4bb8cf8d-2181-4e05-a2db-bd0521f9e8ce/) from here in Virginia: > A U.S. District Court judge in Alexandria has ruled that the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles had no right to revoke a Loudoun County man’s personalized license plates that read “GOVT SUX.”… ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/38 "2021-07-04T00:36:27Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Rodman wasn’t allowed to have 69? How tall would his partner have to be make this work? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/39 "2021-07-04T00:52:16Z")
I always liked this rejected plate: > **[ILVTOFU License Plate Request Denied Despite True Love For Tofu (VIDEO)](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ilvtofu-license-plate-req_n_184856)** > > ILVTOFU License Plate Request Denied Despite True Love For Tofu (VIDEO) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542/40 "2021-07-04T04:04:44Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > The DVLA publishes a list of banned combinations each year. I wonder who compiles it? > > This is from 2020: > > > | AS20 HOL | GO20 HEL | BS20 TRD | > > | --- | --- | --- | > > | EU20 BAD | GB20 GUN | NO20 ARM | > > | PE20 RVT | BO20 OCK | MU20 DER | > > | NO20 JOB | TO20 SRR | MY20 MUF | > > | GB20 FKD | BU20 GRD | MU20 GER | > > You may not be aware that UK plates follow a specific pattern: > > The first two letters show where the car was first registered. The two numbers show the age (which is why those in the list are all 20) and the last letters are random. There are a few of these that I can’t figure out what would be offensive: |EU20 BAD| You Bad? |NO20 JOB| No job? Nose job? |BO20 OCK| I have no idea what this even means |NO20 ARM| No arm? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-offensive-about-this-vanity-license-plate/945542.md?page=3)