To my dismay, I was informed today by some co-workers that my new vanity plate has a slang designation that I was previously unaware of. Of course, I've had the plate on for a week now and these are the first people to pick up on it, so I'm wondering how widely known the term actually is...

Does anyone else find issue with this plate? I mean, I feel like my intended meaning for it makes sense in context and all, but still...

 

Boyfriend and I both agree that we get how it's dirty, but don't see it that way on the car.

 

I think it would be dirtier if read "FUNBAG" or something like that, but "FUNBOX"? I mean I guess I can see it, but it's not what initially comes to mind.

 

I figured. Context is my friend

Seems just about every word or phrase you can come up with these days has some alternate slang meaning, anyhow.

 

True enough, but if it's a girl driving it takes on a whole other connotation, unfortunately............

We saw a bumper sticker on a truck yesterday that said "My other toy has ****"..........sad really...........

I told my wife he must mean his dog..............

 

^^A truck??? That's not a dog, it's a cow.

 

Yeah it's got a dirty connotation, but not in this context. Of course, people often pick such words out of context... so you may feel like changing it. Or you may not.

A good place to search before picking vanity plates/user names/etc. is UrbanDictionary.com. Take their definitions with a large, gigantic rock of salt though. If a definition has a large amount of "ups" then you can trust that it's a fairly well known slang term.

 

Reminds me of a friend that got one of those big spider web tattoos on his elbow. He didn't realize that before the particular design became popular, it had some pretty serious racial overtones.

But in the case of your car, I think that most people who are young/hip enough to know the slang meaning of "funbox" are going to assume that's NOT what you meant when you got it for a license plate.

 

I personally like the fact that it can have multiple meanings. What the heck! I know the DMV must not have thought so because most of them will deny questionable choices. It certainly doesn't offend me. People can twist things however they wish. I like the tag. And if it was a woman driving I would find it even cooler!

 

I guess it's only a problem if you keep getting honked at!

 

Friends of mine advised against BIGENUF for one of my MINI's.

 

I like it.
It can be taken as a double entendre, but so what.
Your opinion is the only one that counts.
As they say in the old country, "screw 'em".

 

Here's a link to one of my favorite threads on MetroplexMINI.org, my local MINI board. One of our members (a Brit Expat) had plates made up with "Teabag" printed on them.

http://www.metroplexmini.org/forum/s...ad.php?t=18089

 

Song is Sung by the Who some years back.........Modified a little by me...


Mama's got a fun box
She swears on her chest
And when Daddy comes home
He never gets no rest

'Cause she's drivin all night
And the MINI's all right
Mama's got a fun box
Daddy never sleeps at night

Well the kids don't eat
And the dog can't sleep
There's no escape from the MINI
In the whole damn street

'Cause she's drivin all night
And the MINI's all right
Mama's got a fun box
Daddy never sleeps at night


She drives in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out

She's drivin all night
And the MINI's all tight
Mama's got a fun box
Daddy never sleeps at night

The Mini goes, drive me, come on and drive me
Come on and tease me like you do
I'm so in love with you
Mama's got a fun box
Daddy never sleeps at night

She drives in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out

'Cause she's driving all night
And the Mini's all right
Mama's got a fun box
Daddy never sleeps at night

 

Keep it. Double entendres are fun! I sugested to cooperflags.com to have two motoring badge. "size doesn't matter" and right next to it, "that's what she said!". You can find them in the assorted section of their website. There are so many jokes you can make about our cars.

 

People who are offended by your plates really need to get a life. Your intentions are and were honorable and that is all that truly matters. I have COOLPR on my Mini and some take issue with the plates but, I think Coopers are cool-those who are critical need a new outlook on life and spend their time in a more constructive and light hearted manner.

 

The DMV allowed it so I wouldn't think twice about it... the other folks commenting on it are probably just jealous of your very cool car. Smile and wink.

 

I will freely admit that I'm juvenile enough to think of the dirty meaning before what you actually intended it to mean, context or no.

 

Ain't that the truth . I'll bet the plate really threw them for a loop, actually... They're the same ones that call the MINI a "gay" car.

 

I am a high school teacher, so I am around teenage boys all day. They can make the most benign things seem dirty. For normal, mature adults, your license plate makes perfect sense. For those who are eternally teenage boys, they are giggling and at least you got their attention and gave them a laugh.

 

Generally when I respond to a thread I look at past postings to get an idea about the poster. Age, gender, background, etc.

From this and you posts about "how others perceive your MINI", IMHO it sounds like you co-workers/friends know your sensitivity about what they think and are having fun pushing you buttons, Maybe you are just too worried about what others think and not concerned enough about your own.

In my view one's car, clothes, and other accoutriments can either be a statement about who you are or just what they seem to be, a mode of transportation, protection from the elements, or whatever.

As for me, I believe the former while others, like my close friend see these things as the latter.

You have to decide which of the two these things are and if you are, whether they are a way for you to show others who you are or a way for you to have others accept you for what you want to be.

When I got my red 'vette, someone quoted Joan Rivers "I never met a man with a red Corvette that didn't need one". I just laughed and put it on my website with other quotes.

My Colorado Crewcab has the plate LALDYLA after the Bob Dylan song "Lay Lady Lay". If someone wants to make a different meaning, that is up to them.

If you are trying to show your style and personality with your MINI and license plate, then you are too worried about what others think; if you are doing it for others, then you may have picked out the wrong car and certainly picked the wrong plate. That is not because either of them is wrong but because you will always be at the mercy of differing opinions.

 

Whew!! Now there is a deep thinker. Whoda thought there was that much to a plate, Yes

 

I would say that in general the opinion of others tends not to phase me - Anyone who knows me personally will surely tell you that I'm rather "out there" in many respects. But at the same time, I don't like to say or do things that I know will make people think less of me - Case and point: While I'm perfectly fine with the apparent fact that my plate can be even more amusing than I had anticipated, I don't want to project the feeling that I'm a crude and disrespectful individual because that's not me.

 

Point taken.

However, my comment though is your apparent concern on two fronts--how people perceive your MINI and the plate. Additionally you are asking the opinions of others on this forum (I do understand the part about inquiring of how widespread negative "funbox" connotations are).

I did not think that your posts reflected the view of someone who is not fazed by the opinions of others. (IMO, that is not a bad thing in itself, just a way of looking at life.)

I am not sure what you mean by "out there", but if it refers to being separate from the opinions of others and "unfazed" by them, I wonder why others are so willing to offer advice if you come across as not caring about their opinions. Maybe they see you differently than you think.

And also you did ask for others' opinions here on the subject and I was simply complying with that request and making an observation.

 

I guess perception of opinion is a multi-faceted subject. Perhaps what I categorize as "un-phased" is a misnomer. As a 20-year-old, I am by nature acutely aware of people's opinions of me, my MINI, etc... However, I don't think that those opinions define me. When I first decided I wanted a MINI, I got a lot of the typical reaction that "those cars are gay". But I wanted one, so I got one anyway. By contrast, I've talked to many guys around my age who have told me outright that they'd never drive a MINI because people think it's "cute" or "gay", regardless of the fact that the MINI will run circles around whatever "manly" vehicle these individuals invariably drive. My post on how other's percieve your MINI was meant as more of an observation of this kind of thing, rather than an outright objection to it.

So who knows what to call it, exactly - I'm no psychologist. Certainly being "aware" of opinion is a facinating way to look at yourself from a different perspective, but I suppose its up for debate as to whether or not that in some way affects you.