'New' profanities banned on license plates

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ST. PAUL, Minn., June 13 (UPI) -- Minnesota's head of license plate censorship said letter combinations banned by the state include abbreviations for profanities and brand names.

Tom Evans, supervisor of the state Department of Public Safety's special plate unit, said he and his team go through every possible three-letter combination every year to determine which plates need to be banned, the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press reported Monday.

Evans said each year brings the banning of new combinations that have been reported to the department as obscene, such as FYU and WTF.

"Any time there is an 'F' in the box, we have to look really close," he said. "I would have never thought about WTF before."

Evans said other potentially offensive combinations, such as KKK and LSD, are also banned. He said some brand names, including BVD, are not allowed by the state.