NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Thinking about getting that brand new blue Tennessee license plate with a personalized tag? If you're like one Tennessean last year who thought a "BUTTZ" plate perfectly represented their style... you'll need to think again.
In order for your plate to be approved: State law requires it to be inoffensive, in good taste and decency, and it can't be misleading.
The Tennessee Department of Revenue takes in thousands of applications for personalized license plates on its website every year, but there are quite a few that won't make it to print for the reasons above.
Between January 2020 and October 2021, the state rejected nearly 700 plate submissions -- the majority for profanity, but also many referencing violence, sex, politics and racism.
Blatant violations, including those recorded by the state in the past, appear to be filtered before they can even be submitted, but some people got "creative" and were able to get by the filter by replacing letters with numbers. These are the ones that were caught during the approval process.
Some of the rejected plates on the list provided by the Department of Revenue were less conspicuous, but still denied due to being misleading or trying to blatantly reference popular people or creative works (Sorry Dolly Parton fans, but "D011Y" still isn't allowed).
A fan of the James Bond series tried to get "OO7" as a plate. Not today, Mr. Bond.
One Disney fan was really feeling the Hakuna Matata spirit with their "S1MBA" plate. Unfortunately, the state was not feeling the love.
Of course, an infamous three-letter acronym made popular in an award-winning 2020 song by rapper Cardi B found its way onto the list of rejections. That one definitely broke a few state rules.
Many were just downright silly, though. Apparently fart jokes are back in vogue -- because a few people tried to pass such classics as "WHOFRTD" through the system. Another person simply wanted "BUTTZ" as their plate. The state decided those skirted the line of poor taste.
We also spotted a few profane jabs at the Alabama Crimson Tide on the list. It's unknown if they tried to put those on the University of Alabama vanity plate.
Really, this is all to say that the people in charge of checking plate submissions actually check and thoroughly vet plate submissions before they let you put them on the back of your vehicle, so it's unlikely you'll be seeing "M01ST" or "GOTWEED" (they also made the list) on a Tennessee tag anytime soon.