We read:
"It had been a term of endearment which had cemented links with her Greek heritage and first adorned her cars more than five years ago following a loving gift from her husband.
But the nickname Kiki, given to lawyer Kristen Perry before she could even walk, has now put her in hot water with the Roads and Traffic Authority because her number plate also translates into a term for female genitals in the Filipino language of Tagalog.
Mrs Perry has been left flabbergasted after being sent a "please explain", the RTA threatening to confiscate the number plate if she did not "show cause" within a fortnight.
Mrs Perry said Kiki was a shortening of her name in the Greek language and the number plates were given to her by her husband, Steven, five years ago
And she did not take long to reply to the RTA. "I have never been advised by anyone who speaks the Tagalog language that my name or number plate offends them," she wrote. "... it has been my name since birth and your letter calling my name 'offensive' is disturbing."
Source
7 comments:
I guess these guys would have given the children's movie "Kiki's Delivery Service" an X-rating!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097814/
Ok. At first I thought she had gotten the license plates in the Philippines, and my response was "Yeah, she should have known better." Then I read the original article. She lives, drives, and has the car registered in Australia! The the Roads and Traffic Authority (a Federal Aussie DMV organization I presume) is upset because Kiki translates to slang for female genitals in Tagalog? You have got to be kidding! Man, the Federal Govt of Australia is getting to be as crazy and intrusive as the US Fed Govt.
Awhile back I saw someone here in Michigan with the vanity plate SNAFU. I would say that's just a tad more offensive thant Kiki.
Anon @2:37 But rather descriptive of MI. I did 20 yrs there near Detroit.
Well, potentially any word might be offensive in some language or dialect, and it seems Australia considers all of them!
Seems the Aussies are getting as bad as the Brits when it comes to being PC'ized. I thought they had more sense. Guess i was wrong.
Any wonder why our registration costs keep going up when you deal with idiots like the RTA. Personalised number plates start at $500 for something simple and scale up dramatically. The plates in question could have cost $750 plus. Auctions are often held by owners for used personal plates and may fetch several thousand or more.
If it is not offensive in the native Aboriginal language or English then leave it alone. If that is to difficult the ban all personalised plates, refund the money and issue standard plates because someone can be offended at any plate.
What the hell is Tagalog and who cares? How many of their words are offensive in English?
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