The Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles receives around 10,000 requests for custom plates every year. In 2021, they denied just 293 combinations of letters and numbers.
By far the most common reason cited is that “configuration is alarming, threatening, offending, or misleading.” Other reasons include reference to sexual acts or bodily functions, reference to illegal activities or controlled substances, derogatory references to protected identities such as race or gender, and the implication that the vehicle is official.
For example, the Oregon DMV rejected GODUXX and PAPA because both suggested the vehicles were “official.” [At The Advocate, we’re of the mind that official Ducks cars wouldn’t likely spell the key word “duxx.”]
Common among the rejected plates are allusions to sex, genitalia, urine, excrement, marijuana, and alcohol – ale, stout, bourbon, whiskey, merlot, and shiraz, specifically.
The list features a handful of near-duplicates, like HURPPY and HURRPY – an unflattering term for a person who hasn’t been sexually active and likes dull music – and WEED MN and WEEDMN – aka Weedman.
Of the 293, only one plate was rejected because it was already in use: 69CONV.
The DMV has software that automatically denies anything that has been denied in past years and filters out certain, known words. DMV employees also consider each submission for appropriateness.David House, spokesperson for the DMV, explains, “We Google things. We use Urban Dictionary. Slang changes a lot.”
By Grace Miller
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