OMG! What if your license plate had a swear word on it (or at least the slang-y approximation of one)?
It's an issue in South North Carolina, where about 10,000 residents have a randomly generated plate ID that begins with "WTF." Until a few years ago, of course, those were no more than three random letters.
Today, though, WTF is pretty common Webspeak for, well, an expression of surprise: "What the f...?"
The state's letting people with WTF tags switch to new plates for free, if they want to.
I guess it'd be doubly awful if "WTF" ended up on one of the state's forthcoming Christian license plates .
UPDATE: Uh, hi. I guess I need to get my Carolinas straight. As 13th Floor reader Chip points out, this occurred in NORTH Carolina. Oops.
Zach Patton -- Executive Editor. Zach has written about a range of topics, including social policy issues and urban planning and design. Originally from Tennessee, he joined GOVERNING as a staff writer in 2004. He received the 2011 Jesse H. Neal Award for Outstanding Journalism
E-mail: zpatton@governing.com 
Written and compiled by staff writers and editors, GOVERNING View is an on-the-ground, and sometimes behind-the-scenes, look at the topics we're covering in print and online. From notes on what's up in statehouses, county courthouses and city halls, to encounters with people, places and things, GOVERNING View is a window into the side of state and local government you don't always see.
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