One of my favourite questions to ask on a first date is, “what would you put on a custom license plate?” It’s weird, I know, but it’s always worth the long wait for an answer. And I do mean long.
Getting a personalized license plate is a pretty easy procedure: order online, pay around $300, and it’ll be in your mailbox within a month.
The hard part, of course, is deciding what to put on it. So you can imagine the anguish of having your choice denied by the almighty provincial vehicle authority.
Every year, tens of thousands of personalized license plate applications are rejected. Amazingly, Ontario publishes the ones that don’t make the cut.
Here’s a full list of every rejected personalized licence plate in Ontario between May 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020.
Plates can be rejected for a number of reasons: Abusive, Obscene Language and Derogatory Slang; Clarity and Readability; Drugs and Alcohol; Human Rights Discrimination; Political Figures, Dignitaries, and Law Enforcement Officials; Religion; Sexual (and Eliminatory Functions); Violence and Criminal Activity.
Each category has its share of amusing submissions, from self-promotion to current events. ‘MR.BIG.D’, for example, or ‘COVID.19’. Some more: ‘SEXYASF’, ‘WEEDMNEY’, and ‘MR.ISLAM’.
Anyway, it’s a long list and you’re probably working from home, so have at it.