Fact Check

Did Florida Reject These Vanity Plates?

We honestly don't know what's wrong with "YASSQWN," though.

Published Feb. 6, 2022

Drag and scale characters to make your own vanity plate. Includes all the letters of the alphabet and numerals 0 through 9. Elements are layered and labeled. Uses global colors for easier color changes. Download includes XXXL JPEG file (20 in. x 17.5 in. at 300 dpi). (Getty Images)
Image courtesy of Getty Images
Claim:
Florida's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles rejected a list of vanity plates that included submissions like, "DRUGMAN."

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In January 2022, the state of Florida released its annual list of vanity license plates that were requested by drivers, but rejected by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV).

Sate law gives Florida's vehicle licensing authorities the latitude to reject plates deemed "obscene or otherwise objectionable." In late January 2022, the agency released a list of 500 rejected plates.

Some rejected plates are obviously obscene. Others are a bit too aggressive, perhaps, for the road.

"CUTABCH" is one. "DRUGMAN" is another. Of course, more than one person tried to get a variation of the internet meme "Deez Nuts." One rejected plate said "YASSQWN."

For reasons that elude us, one Florida motorist would have elected to drive around with plates that read "FARTMAN" had the motor vehicle bureau not intervened.

In 2016, the South Florida Sun Sentinel did license plate graphic mock-ups of rejected plates. Some of them were obviously obscene or inappropriate, like one that contained a Nazi reference.


Sources

“Pictures: Rejected Florida License Plates (Warning: Contains Profanity).” Sun-Sentinel.com, 16 Aug. 2016, https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/crime/sfl-rejected-florida-license-plates-pictures-2011-photogallery.html.

Hooper, Ben. “Florida Lists Rejected Vanity Plates: ‘IFART,’ ‘DRUGMAN.’” UPI, 31 Jan. 2022, https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/01/31/Florida-rejected-vanity-plates-2021/9561643658075/.

Lee, Timothy B. “Deez Nuts, Explained.” Vox, 20 Aug. 2015, https://www.vox.com/2015/8/20/9183515/deez-nuts-explained.

Bethania Palma is a journalist from the Los Angeles area who started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and has covered everything from crime to government to national politics. She has written for ... read more