WTF? NC Offers to Replace 10,000 License Plates

beadfulthings writes "In light of recent discussions about the Internet habits of the older generation, it's comforting to know that in North Carolina, up to 10,000 license plates containing the potentially offensive 3-letter WTF combination will be replaced by the Motor Vehicles division at no cost — if the owner of the vehicle finds the plates offensive. As reported on Winston-Salem's television station WXII, the MVD was alerted to the problem by an irate 60-year-old technology teacher who'd been clued in by her grandchildren. The article includes a helpful slide show of twenty Internet acronyms every parent should know. The article doesn't include any information on how you could actually apply for a WTF license plate."

So let me get this straight...

[dreamchaser]

They are going to use taxpayer dollars for this? If I lived in NC *I* would be the one shouting 'WTF?' for real!

Re:So let me get this straight...

[ChromeAeonium]

What I'd like to know is how you can be offended by a random three letters, even if they happen to have relatively recently gained a meaning. The key here word is random. They are not offensive unless one chooses to make them so. IMHO, folks should stop being so thin skinned.

Re:So let me get this straight...

[vux984]

They are offering to exchange them to any owner who is offended, they aren't recalling them.

In the big scheme of things, I think this will be like hot coffee... where only a tiny tiny fraction ever come forward and get an exchange.

Lots of 3 letter combos aren't issued, wtf got added to the list, and anyone who currently has it can have it exchanged without having to pay the usual fees for new plates.

This is a non-issue.

Re:17s 0k

[carlzum]

That's a great link, and even funnier after I realized it wasn't a parody. Here's my guide to leetspeak for parents... it's like your kids are speaking pig latin or using a decoder ring. Now stop being an over-dramatic control freak, you're going to warp your children.

Re:POS

[jamesh]

Curiously, you also often hear both standard meanings of PoS applying to the same product.

In a meeting, I once very very nearly said 'Piece Of Shit' when I meant to say 'Point Of Sale' :)

Re:Way To Fail

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't suppose you know where Whiskey Tango Foxtrot came from, then.

Re:Way To Fail

[Hojima]

Which leads to the question, why are bad words so damn bad? I never understood how adults can look down on children crying because they got called a doodoo head, only to throw an unquestioned punch at whoever tells them 'fuck you'. What's the best way to stop this childishness? Quit beating you kids when they curse. I think strict child abuse laws is the reason why swearing is becoming more acceptable. In the mean time we have to deal with anyone that went through this to hold a greater grudge against a politician that swears as opposed to a politician that is blatantly corrupt. Try saying fuck on a campaign trail and see how well that goes. That kind of childishness pisses me off.

Re:Way To Fail

[cayenne8]

"I never understood how adults can look down on children crying because they got called a doodoo head, only to throw an unquestioned punch at whoever tells them 'fuck you'. What's the best way to stop this childishness? Quit beating you kids when they curse. I think strict child abuse laws is the reason why swearing is becoming more acceptable. In the mean time we have to deal with anyone that went through this to hold a greater grudge against a politician that swears as opposed to a politician that is blatantly corrupt. Try saying fuck on a campaign trail and see how well that goes."

Sounds like we need the 7 words you can't say on TV even more than ever.....RIP George Carlin

Re:Way To Fail

[Anonymous Coward]

What's all that obsession with the French?

Is it because they are too small to bite us back?
Free to have their own thoughts and culture, different from ours?

It's easy to pick on your little brother, more difficult to do the same on a real bully.

Maybe that's why we like to kid the French, while the Chinese scare us...

Eh?

[YourExperiment]

What's offensive about Worse Than Failure [worsethanfailure.com]?

Re:Way To Fail

[YourExperiment]

If you start allowing kids to curse left, right and centre then the words entirely lose their appeal. What are you going to do when telling someone to go f*** themselves loses all its impact because everyone's shoving the word in every sentence they say? Your precious swear words start to look pretty useless then, don't they? The best thing you can do is maintain the status quo, try (and fail) to stop kids from swearing like we always have, and keep all the best words for ourselves. Fuckwad.

Re:Way To Fail

[j-pimp]

You are aware that the French are partially responsible for the American Revolutionary War victory George Washington scored over the British, right?

Americans really should learn more history, even their own would help them to navigate the currents of this world's events.

We had a common enemy at the time. Lets be honest we like the British as long as they don't tell us what to do. Hence why we basically made nice nice after the war of 1812