Are you like me? Before you mutter, "I sure the heck hope not!" let me reveal what I am talking about.
Out on the highway do you drive yourself crazy trying to decipher the meanings of other people's personalized license plates? Or are you able to see it and immediately dismiss it as not being worth another thought? Or have you never been stumped by one? I am Choice #1, crazy. 
Fortunately, most plates are fairly revelatory. See this one and you instantly peg the car's owner as a LAB LOVeR. Either the guy is really into that breed of dog or it's Chemical Ali's ride and he's talking about a different kind of lab. Oh, wait, see the paw prints on the license plate frame? So it's settled.
But then you get behind SNOPHLK. That's when the palpitations begin. How long is this one going to take me to figure out? Okay, okay, it's not ShOPoHoLic. Is it SNOw PacK something - no there's an H and an L. Could it be SNOoP HuLK? That makes no sense at all. You check it backwards...is it KilL with HarPOoNS? Of course it isn't. Now my whole day is ruined. No matter what else I'm supposed to be thinking about this is what I'll really be trying to figure out. Grrrr.....
Here we go again. AMESTRK? Is it A ME (or MEan) STReaK? Then the driver is a jackass. Maybe AMy'S TRuCK? Well, it's not a truck, it's an SUV, but maybe? I doubt it. What if it is one of those vanity plates that only has meaning for the owner? What if they are the initials of someones kids or pets or something? Then no amount of brainpower and logic will ever crack the code. This is why this is such a dangerous game. This is why I shouldn't play. Or maybe I just suck at it and both of these plates will be child's play, sorry, CHDSPLY, to you.
its snowflake stupid
Posted by: gerald | March 22, 2008 at 07:37 AM
I didn't get snowflake either. It always takes me forever to either figure them out or not figure them out at all!
Posted by: EditThis | March 22, 2008 at 09:04 AM
Here is a link to a picture of an obvious plate but the frame is the punchline. The frame reads "I always get the last word".
http://home.adelphia.net/~wprigge/cars/yesdear.jpg
My plate on my 1969 Bronco is 69 BRCO because the only way to get the number 69 on a plate in CA is to have a vehicle from 1969.
Posted by: Bill Prigge | March 22, 2008 at 09:36 AM
My hubby and I have personalized plates on our cars. One is INTUB8 for his career, I have CHZGRL for my nickname and our SUV has SL QUESO (espanol and break it down...es el queso). I get frustrated when I can't figure out personalized plates on other cars. My all time fave that I've seen is IMADORK.
Posted by: Cheesegirl | March 22, 2008 at 12:35 PM
I have XAPE POD - yes, a slight 'Star Wars' reference there; but I do own an Escape... I grew up on "Hooked on Phonics" anyway. BTW,I'm shocked you don't have "TOTSDAD"
Posted by: cathy | March 22, 2008 at 12:35 PM
Yeah... Snow Flake... wow.
Posted by: Nicole | March 22, 2008 at 05:32 PM
I'm betting it's snoph lick.
Posted by: Diane | March 22, 2008 at 09:36 PM
Hey Bean, I completely understand about the personalized license plates. I have one that's pretty clear. ATHYIST. The only reason I had to spell it that way is because someone in the San Francisco area already had the correct spelling of ATHEIST.
If it's too hard to figure out, you're doing it wrong.
Posted by: Craig | March 23, 2008 at 09:42 PM
When personalized plates first came out in the late seventies I remember my Mom reading an article about how some, not so appropriate plates, had been issued and immediately pulled once someone at the DMV figured out they said, the example given was a plate that read FAA Q…my mom just keep repeating FAA Q…FAAQ trying to get her head around its meaning, once she figured it out she turned a shade of red I’ve yet seen repeated in nature
Posted by: Ken | March 24, 2008 at 06:52 AM
I don't get the need for a personalized plate? What the hell is wrong with the one that the DMV gives you....it's just a license plate...who cares about you and what you do, where you work, the music you like etc etc? Can someone please explain to me why they decided to get a personalized plate? I'm serious - why did you do that?
Posted by: Rob Perkins | March 24, 2008 at 09:52 AM
I thought it was snowfolk.
Posted by: Outside Observer | March 24, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Hey, that's my friend Amy Stark's car!
Posted by: Outside Observer | March 24, 2008 at 12:17 PM
Wait, I don't have a friend named Amy Stark. Weird, huh?
Posted by: Outside Observer | March 24, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Personalized plates are so polarizing for me. On the one hand, I love mine - XTRMK9S(extreme canines) - because my husband and I do dog sports like agility and herding with our dogs. But on the other hand, other people's plates make me nuts trying to figure them out!!
Posted by: Kim | March 24, 2008 at 04:57 PM
Why do you let it bother you that people get personalized plates? It is their money...maybe the fact that you post comments on a blog drives other people to confusion...lol
Posted by: To Ken | March 25, 2008 at 10:33 AM
$100 to anyone who can figure out mine:
WTR8OPT
I have only had 1 person come up to me and tell me what it means.
Posted by: Laker Fan | March 25, 2008 at 01:41 PM
Hey "Laker Fan,"
If you are going to have a personalized plate that no one can figure out then what is the point?
Why not save the money and just get a regular plate that means nothing instead?
Posted by: Anyone U.S.A. | March 25, 2008 at 06:00 PM
Hey "Anyone USA" - because it means something to me. That's why its called "personalized". It's personal. Get it??? Plus, it's only like $25/year.
Posted by: Laker Fan | March 25, 2008 at 07:00 PM
To Ken
It bothers me that people get personalized plates because it smacks of 'Hey everyone, look at me..I'm special..I have my own license plate...the one from the DMV wasn't special enough for me.'
I dunno - maybe I need to let it go but everytime I see one, and especially one I can't figure out it bothers me.
If my blog postings confuse you then good...now you can share in my frustration. ;-)
Posted by: Rob Perkins | March 26, 2008 at 09:31 AM
a good one i once saw was H8MYXWF. brutal but funny!
Posted by: michelle k | March 26, 2008 at 11:35 AM
I've always thought that they should give everyone plates that are easy to identify. That way when somebody tries to commit a crime with a vehicle it is easier to remember the information. For example:
911: "911. What's your emergency?"
Me: "Yes, somebody just crashed into my car and left the scene."
911: "What type of vehicle was it?"
Me: "Some kind of Honda."
911: "Did you get the license plate information?"
Me: "Yes, it is IAMASIAN."
911: "Remain calm sir, the police will be in pursuit shortly."
It would be so much harder to remember something like 2XG8L95
Posted by: Mr. Mustachio | March 28, 2008 at 08:52 AM
It's Snow Flake my man.
Posted by: C. H. | March 28, 2008 at 11:03 PM
I love you BEAN. Keep doing the Lords' work!!
Posted by: Darren Knowles | March 29, 2008 at 11:31 PM
I don't know how the people who call it snowflake can be so certain. Snow Phallic seems much more likely to me.
Posted by: JennySmith | March 31, 2008 at 10:10 AM
I was hoping that one was "Snow Folk" as in "That's just the kind of people we are... SnoPhlk!"
Growing up (and still today) both my parents are HAM radio operators (dad really is.. mom begrudgingly is... as am I) and they both have personalized licensed plates of their call signs. Dad's is K5LAD... doesn't really look like anything... but mom's is: WA5SNU.
I remember as a lad driving her car and seeing people behind me from the the rear view mirror trying to sound it out and decipher it. "Whaaassss neew?" "Whaaaa fiiiivenuuuu?"
Posted by: Julius Marx | April 09, 2008 at 03:23 PM