Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/02/13/the-real-assman-was-denied-his.html
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Dave Assman (pronounced Oss-men)
Roger That!
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So on one hand, this is a bit silly.
On the other… personalized licence plates aren’t exactly a civil rights issue.
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I was fully expecting “truck nuts.”
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I was in Berlin, Germany back in the 90s and saw a commercial truck rolling by. The company was similar to Office Depot here. Their name: Assmann. I had a good laugh at that moment. Assmann is also the name of another German company that supplies industrial electrical components. I have a t-shirt that says “I sell Assmann.”
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No, but they could be deemed “socially unacceptable”, as certain Mr Lorne Grabher found out…
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The irony is that he actually wanted the license plate because he’s really into butts.
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You just wait until Bobby Trucknutz wants a personalized plate.
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It is pronounced Ahs weep eh
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personalized licence plates aren’t exactly a civil rights issue.
I kinda disagree. Free speech is free speech, whether it’s a license plate reading ASSMAN or an oppressed person speaking truth to power.
But you’re right, this is just about the least-consequential free speech issue I can think of.
It’s not the name that’s unacceptable, it’s how it can be read. There’s plenty of valid names I wouldn’t expect to be on a license plate - Gay, Dick, Kuntal, Hymen, Colon, Lesbos, and so on.
I don’t think so. There is a difference between what it is acceptable to say period (very high threshold) and what it is acceptable to broadcast using mass media (subject to community standards). The government shouldn’t censor your newsletter, but they don’t have to let you put graphic descriptions of your sex life on a billboard, and that is consistent with the interpretation of free speech everywhere, even in the fairly absolutist USA.
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There’s a brand I saw the other day at Home Depot … Smeg . they make kitchen appliances.
No thanks.
We have several Assmans in our area, and yes it is pronounced Oss-men.
(I would have spelled it Oz-men, but same difference)
Is he related to Dick?
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He’s the Rosa Parks of exactly nothing…
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I’m always shocked that they got away with that, cow and chicken.
