Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.06.2012, Blaðsíða 12

12
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 7 — 2012 What would be YOUR vanity plate? letters@grapevine.is
AnnA AndeRsen
Iceland | Vain
Among his claims to fame, MP
Árni Johnsen successfully lob-
bied for legalising vanity plates
on vehicles in Iceland and be-
came the first proud owner
of one when he snagged “Ís-
LAnd” in 1996. Today there
are 5.295 vehicles with such
plates, which is about two per-
cent of all vehicles in Iceland.
Much like there are rules govern-
ing the naming of people in Ice-
land, there are rules governing
the “naming” of vehicles, which
reflects the ease at which Iceland-
ers (and citizens of other Nordic
countries) give up their personal
freedoms for the greater good of
society.
In the case of the vanity plates,
both English and Icelandic words
are permitted, but if an Icelandic
word is used, the law states that
it must follow correct spelling and
grammar rules.
Furthermore, the law states
that vanity plates should not an-
ger or make people feel uncom-
fortable. However, much like the
condition that people’s names may
not cause their bearer embarrass-
ment, this is a rather subjective
rule and it’s up to a committee to
make the call.
Since 1996, the committee has
rejected thirty or so plates. The
plates “POLICE” and “KILLER”
were amongst the first to be re-
jected because they could “make
people feel uncomfortable.” Ad-
ditionally, the plate “KILLR” was
rejected three years later because
it was too similar to “KILLER.”
The plates “STUNT,” “STUNTS,”
“DEVIL,” “SATAN,” “Ó GUД ("OH
GOD"), and every variation of
“FÍKNÓ” (NARCO) have also been
rejected for this reason. “We try
to follow ethics and be sure that
plates are not hurtful or insulting,”
Vehicle Inspection Director Karl
Ragnars told a newspaper report-
er in 1996.
Perhaps it’s the freedom of not
being required to use the English
language correctly or the fact that
many Icelandic words are just too
long, but a perusal of registered
vanity plates reveals that a great
number of them are indeed in Eng-
lish.
So we decided to make a short
list of vehicles to perhaps follow
and get to know better and others
to avoid at all costs if possible. In-
terestingly, suggesting that you’re
an alcoholic or just plain insane
does not give the Committee rea-
son to believe that some people
might feel uncomfortable. Wel-
come to ÍSLAND!
23 Awesome
(Or Not So Awesome) Vanity Plates
“Much like there are rules
governing the naming of
people in Iceland, there are
rules governing the 'naming'
of vehicles.”
1. HOWARd Hopefully the
vehicle’s name is Howard.
2. BOOZeR Thanks for the
heads up
3. TUBORG This looks like a
beer advertisement and those
are illegal.
4. HOTdOG Yeah, they are
yummy.
5. MR TAn Really?
6. MRCOOL not so much.
7. seX This is the number six in
Icelandic.
8. sHAdY Consider yourself
warned.
9. InsAne stay away from this
vehicle.
10. LOOneY And this one.
11. PsYCHO and probably this
one too.
12. BAsIC Icelanders use
this english word to mean
something like, ‘Yeah, pretty
much’.
13. MOneY Hopefully this
belongs to a really beat
vehicle.
14. LOsT Oh.
15. sHALOM Hello. Goodbye.
Peace.
16. UMsLAG This is great. It
means ‘enVeLOPe’.
17. BLOWMe douche bag
alert. How did it pass The
Committee?
18. VIsA Why?
19. VIP This is vain.
20. YnOT Well, why not?
21. MILF not at all weird to be
calling yourself a MILF…
22. nÝGIFT Good one; means
‘Just Married’
23. 4 sALe Another good one.
MR
TAN
12
2012
4
SALE092009
IN
SANE092009
MR
COOL
09
2009
BLOW
ME
12
2012
MON-
EY
12
2012
LOST
MILF112011
YN
O
T
11 201
1
11
2011
SEXVI
SA
10 201
0
10
2010
UMSLAG112011
HOWARD112011
HOTDOG122012
LOONEY122012