In May 2002, Michael Syravong filed a "personalized license plate application" with Washington's Department of Licensing. GOTMILF was Syravong's first choice among the three possible personalized tags he listed on the state form (he would have settled for SUPL8EZ or RCKSTAR).

Asked for the meaning of GOTMILF, Syravong wrote, "Got Manual Inline Lift Fluctuator," which he would later claim was some kind of automotive gizmo. The 25-year-old's license plate choice was, amazingly, approved by bureaucrats who obviously never saw the film "American Pie" and were clueless about the acronym's real meaning.

Unfortunately for Syravong, however, two offended citizens knew that the plate was actually his sly play on the Got Milk? slogan crossed with the raunchy acronym. In February, 21 months after Syravong got the personalized plate for his Toyota, an aggrieved Washingtonian e-mailed a complaint to state officials.

A second beef was received in April from a disgusted Snohomish parent who did not want "my children seeing this and inquiring as to what it means." Acting on the first complaint, state officials wrote Syravong seeking his response to the complaint.

Fighting to keep GOTMILF, he responded with a letter that desperately tried to explain away his license plate. Despite Syravong's invocation of Bill of Rights protections, members of Washington's Personalized Plate Review Committee were not swayed by his argument--and even hinted that he may have committed a crime (making a false or misleading statement to a public servant) when he submitted his original plate application.

In April, the state review committee voted to cancel Syravong's tag. He got the bad news in an April 13 letter chiding him for providing "inconsistent information regarding the definition of the plate." Stripped of GOTMILF, Syravong was forced to replace his distinctive tag with PUNISHR.

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 12:35 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
Post contains 300 words, total size 2 kb.

1 What a perfect segue, I saw a title talking about the story from your previous post as "Britney officially a step-milf"

Posted by: M@ at July 21, 2004 12:43 PM (f2jsN)

2 There was a guy in high school that had "whthfk" on his plates. I'm not sure how he explained that one.

Posted by: M@ at July 21, 2004 12:45 PM (f2jsN)

3 Ugh...get over it, people. I'm soooooooooo tired of every uppity blue hair and housewife who feel it's my responsibility to parent their kids. Ugh. Shut up! If they ask, tell them you don't know!!!! I firmly believe that lying is a basic tenet of good parenting.

Posted by: Kevin the Interloper at July 21, 2004 02:28 PM (qb+8W)

4 Then here is a little something .... um ....... distinguished Snohomish parent? Don't follow this guy around so your kids can't see his f'n license plate. Problem solved. And just wanted to say, first time reader, very amused and enjoy very much. Will visit often.

Posted by: Kymmie at July 21, 2004 02:41 PM (zJo7B)

5 I am SOOOOO sick of everyone claiming their rights have been violated. He lied. Plain and simple. He knew what he was doing. Frankly, I wish they'd get rid of all personalized plates and go back to each state having ONE tag. At last count we had 70-some different tags.

Posted by: GrumpyBunny at July 21, 2004 03:03 PM (w3aVF)

6 I'm with the Interloper, he said it well... but I'm the type of parent that would tell my kid's what it means. Knowledge IS power LOL. and if these folks were THAT uptight, how did they even freakin' know what MILF means...and if they did, why bother gettin' pissy about it? I can't believe that he was threatened with committing a crime, what a crock of shit. Why don't we just tear up the Bill of Rights in little bits & pieces already if they're gonna pull & get away with that crap, yk? UGH.

Posted by: PunkAssBitch at July 21, 2004 03:08 PM (+VZDP)

7 I hate to admit this, but I've never seen any of the American Pie movies so I wouldn't have guessed it's meaning initially.

Posted by: Brian D. at July 21, 2004 04:34 PM (rndtS)

8 Sad but true: I once tried to get "IB6UB9." Rejected, but I don't know if it was because of decency sake or because it was already taken. The great thing about Illinois plates is that personalization was free as long as there was at least one number in the plate ID. Here in Indiana it is a hefty charge extra.

Posted by: chuck at July 21, 2004 05:26 PM (ls7DX)

9 Chuck, why am I not surprised?

Posted by: Brian D. at July 21, 2004 07:33 PM (J+4Gg)

10 Weird i say. My friend and i were driving around the other day and someone had rearranged the letters on a sigh outside of a deli to say "go screw a milf" .

Posted by: garybibb at July 21, 2004 11:12 PM (PcgQk)

11 I had a black Porsche 914 with a small whale tail way back when. I applied for "SUM TAIL" and explained it had to do with the vehicle's design. It seemingly went through but then the plate didn't arrive. Some time later I received a form letter that it was denied. So I blew up their office.

Posted by: Anna at July 22, 2004 12:52 AM (uvamW)

12 Mkay. I'm old. I had to google it to get it. Sad.

Posted by: Susan at July 23, 2004 10:47 PM (FJO/A)

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