Sunday, March 01, 2009

License to play

Classically, license plates for which drivers paid extra just to control the content were always called vanity plates. However, that term implies that the owner is touting perhaps his own name or that of his company (or his favorite son). Most of the custom plates that I collect are neither that vain nor that dull but instead light hearted (or perhaps just plain strange). Otherwise, I wouldn't bother with them. I prefer plates with messages about Arizona (above, below)...
...or perhaps the driver's outlook on life. I just hope that they are maintaining that optimism these days!

Betty Boop yes? Why not!

On the other hand, here is somebody who might have a problem with juniper or pine pollen in season, while I haven't figured out whether the owner below is saddled with a problem or, more optimistically, owns a thoroughbred.

Does the driver above buy souls? We'll never know but I intend to be careful when his car is in the neighborhood. As for the driver below, there's a reason for his/her choice of license plate language -- the vehicle is a Nitro.

Links -- All in the Family: Two of my curmudgeon-ish family members have just posted pointed rants at their respective blogs. Check out the Aussie bro and the Alaskan SIL.

Later -- oh, my, hie yerself right over to High Altitude Gardening this instant and take a look at what Kate found. Imagine riding out on your horse up in the high mountains and coming across 200 snowmen.

8 comments:

Omegadad said...

Thanks for the link, Mom. You reminded me to surf to another hemisphere and visit the Unk... something that I'd suggest your other readers do.

Anonymous said...

The best personalized plate I've seen was "BRPNFRT" on a vehicle coming out of Sun City.

Anonymous said...

The last one with you in the picture is neat.

Anonymous said...

One of my favorite AZ license plates comes from Arizona Highways, from their retail store. It's to promote tourism in the state, and it encourages people by saying "See you in AZ", or....

CUNAZ

But, to those of us who are familiar with the culture of southwestern Louisiana, CUNAZ reads very much like Coon Ass, a somewhat affectionate term that means "Cajun". Yep, some Cajuns refer to each other as Coon Asses. LOL

~Anon in AV.

Anil P said...

This is interesting indeed. We don't get to see personalised plates in India.

Granny J said...

od --yes, indeed. The bro can be a bit of a pedant on occasion & on those occasions, I usually am in agreement.

az -- I'd love to get a pic of that one...

steve -- I purposely did not crop in on that image.


anon av -- nice one! Ever since childhood, I've been fascinated by idiosyncratic reads one gives to collections of letters.

anil p -- it's a great way for the govt to collect more revenue -- without resentment.

Half-Hearted Fanatic said...

I too saw BRPNFRT!

Got a picture of it, but it's not very clear.

Granny J said...

ted -- that's the nice thing about permanent license plates, that is, if you have a good one like that...

 
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