Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook

Uproar After NC State Agent 'Fixes' Girl's Lunch Preschooler has to eat chicken nuggets instead of mom's meal »

ILVTOFU Plate Too Spicy for Colo. DMV

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 8, 2009 1:52 PM CDT

(Newser) – A Colorado woman who wanted to advertise her vegan diet with an ILVTOFU vanity license plate is out of luck, the Denver Post reports. The state’s DMV maintains a list of banned letter combinations, of which FU is one. “We don’t allow ‘FU’ because some people could read that as street language for sex,” a censor said. PIG and KKK are on the list, along with baffling no-nos like BUB and HEN.

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

Rebecca Davio poses with her Texas automobile license plate PL8LDY. (AP Photo)

Vehicle license plates in a junkyard in France. (AP Photo)

Vt. Gov. Jim Douglas installs a special gold star license plate onto the car of a military family. (AP Photo)

A tofu factory in Jakarta, Indonesia. (AP Photo)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

My whole family is vegan, so tofu is like a staple for us. I was just going to have a cool license plate, and the DMV misinterpreted my message. - Kelley Coffman-Lee, Centennial, Colorado

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Winter Storm Pounds Colorado

Denver could see historic snowfall

(NEWSER) - Heavy snowfall in Colorado has shut down sections of I-70 and I-25 amid a number of accidents, as snow piled up at two inches per hour on the Eastern Plains. An area near Denver has already seen a foot and a half of snow, and another foot is likely in some regions, experts tell the AP . Northeastern Colorado is facing a blizzard warning through tomorrow, with possible 30mph winds likely halting travel. More»

United Flight's Engine Shuts Down in Mid-Air

Plane makes emergency landing in Colorado

(NEWSER) - A United airlines flight en route from Denver to Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing in Colorado when one of its two engines shut down. The Boeing 757 experienced trouble shortly after takeoff and was diverted to a Grand Junction facility typically used by much smaller airplanes. There were no injuries among the 125 people on board, reports the Los Angeles Times . The FAA is investigating, although an official emphasized that planes are capable of traveling long distances on a single engine. "There was some applause when we landed," a passenger told AP . "I think the crew handled it very well." More»

Tennessee Has Issue With 'ILVTOFU' License Plate

Whitney Calk loves bean curd, not f-ing people

(NEWSER) - Whitney Calk loves her bean curd, so much so that the Tennessee woman wanted to proclaim her vegetarian ways by way of a personalized license plate: ILVTOFU. That's I-LV-TOFU. The state, and its less-pure mind, read her message as I-LV-TO-F-U, and denied it because of its "vulgarity." Now PETA, which employs Calk, is getting in on the action. It issued a press release asking the Department of Revenue to "help animals, the planet, and human health by reconsidering its decision and allowing more people to discover the joy of soy." More»

Teen Loses Her Legs in Train-Hop Stunt

She worried her parents would be mad

(NEWSER) - A Colorado teenager lost both her legs below the knee when she tried to jump onto a moving freight train with her friends and slipped under the rails. One of her friends pulled her out and a nurse who happened to be passing applied tourniquets to her limbs, reports the Longmont Times-Call . The teen, a student at Colorado State University, was airlifted to a Denver hospital for emergency surgery. More»

Man Sues Nevada Over 'GOPALIN' License Plate

State initially denied it as too political

(NEWSER) - A Nevada man is suing the state for its initial refusal to issue him a vanity plate reading “GOPALIN” on the grounds that it was too political. According to James Linlor, the state had approved other such plates—like “DMOCRAT” or “AL GORE”—and when he tried submitting an application for a “GO OBAMA” plate, it was accepted, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports. But Nevada has already agreed that it made a mistake, and issued him the plates. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website