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California runs vanity plates through a database that includes most languages spoken today, plus fictional languages like Klingon and Dothraki.
A Sacramento newspaper columnist used to write about funny license plates. One day he mentioned one that said "TP U BG." That's shorthand used on court reporters' machines; TP stands for an "F" sound, BG makes a "K" and... well, you figured it out.
When DMV contacted her, she claimed it was from her son's favorite story, The Little Engine that Could, where a small locomotive says, "If you can" as it climbs a steep hill. Apparently TP can also mean "if" and BG can mean "can." DMV didn't believe her and cancelled the plate.
That seems like it could be a dangerous ambiguity. What would happen to live closed captioning if a presidential candidate said "if you can" during a debate and it got translated as an F-bomb?
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