rivettingKateTaylor

Only ever having had the nickname Riv or Pop (goes with Rivett as in rivettingkatetaylor…. thanks Jim Hopkins) the story of a woman in Oz who’s just been told her nickname means vagina made me laugh.

Not in Spanish or some other well-spoken language, but for one-third of the population of  the Philippines (whoops, corrected that, one l and two p – like my friend Bruce who always gets sent two emails from me… one to trelinnoe and one to Trellinoe – just in case).

Poor lawyer Kristen Perry (pah – the story is about her personalised number plate but the plate in question is on her porsche, poor thing) has long been called Kiki (like the bird on Enid Blyton’s Sea of Adventure I am reading the kids at the moment…. concentrate Kate! Focus.)

A stuff website story goes on to say…

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 New South Wales’ Roads and Traffic Authority because her number plate also translates into a term for female genitals in the Filipino language of Tagalog.

“I rang my father last night and said: ‘Do you know you have been calling me vagina all my life?’,” she said.

“He just said ‘What?’ He was appalled.”

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.

An RTA spokeswoman said one person had complained that the plates were insulting to the Filipino language so Mrs Perry and another motorist, who also had “Kiki” featured, were issued notices.

“I have always been called Kiki by my family, many of my friends call me that,” Mrs Perry said.

“I think it is just so funny.”

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 – first on a Mini before she upgraded to a Porsche.

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.”

Mrs Perry said although some parts of the complaint were “hilarious” it was also “really sad” it had reached a stage where her plates could be taken.

The RTA spokeswoman said that “by law, the content of personalised plates must not carry offensive language, religious or sexual content”.

My kids think rivettingkatetaylor should get a personalised plate.

K8SL8.

And indeed, I usually am.