Director Ken Morckel
Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles
P.O. Box 16520
Columbus, Ohio 43216-6520
Dear Mr. Morckel:
I recently learned that the Ohio BMV has suddenly, after ten years, decided not to renew Ohio resident Pat Niple’s personalized license plate. Due to the recent rise in popularity of acronyms in e-mails, your department has determined that her abbreviation “NWTF,” short for Northwood Tree Farm, could too easily be misread as representing foul language.
I believe that your organization (as well as all other motor vehicle departments) should let go of the idea of policing these acronyms, as new ones will surely pop up more quickly than they can be detected. Particularly in a case such as this, where the plate owner not only has a legitimate abbreviation of something meaningful to her (her business with her late husband!), but also has had the same plate for a decade, I think some slack should be cut for her.
These abbreviations are certainly not a danger to the public. Anyone who has the experience and sophistication of language to be able to decipher the acronym is obviously already familiar with the terms. I would not anticipate any awkward moment in a car with a preschooler who might ask, “Mommy, what does NWTF mean?”
Hypothetically, if people began to say “what the crap” with regularity and then, logically, abbreviated it WTC, would that drag into the mud all references to the World Trade Center from that day forward? People need to be given more credit for being able to interpret things in context. We do not automatically seek out something naughty in everything around us, do we?
Please allow Mrs. Niple to retain her personalized plate. If this will not be possible, I would like to suggest that you compensate her inconvenience by supplying her with a complementary vanity plate bearing her name.
Truly,
Liz Mann
