This Clever License Plate Has Everyone Talking — Can You Spot Why

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When viewed upside down, the plate reads “VSSH073”… but flip your head (or your phone), and it spells “VSSHO73”—which, with a little imagination and classic calculator-style letter substitution, reveals the cheeky word: “VSSHOES”… wait—no.
Let’s look again.
Hold the plate upside down, and 370HSSV becomes:
VSSH073 → but if you interpret the numbers as letters (like old-school calculator spelling):
  • 3 = E
  • 7 = L
  • 0 = O
So upside down: 370HSSV → VSSH073 → visually resembles “VSSHO LE”… still not quite.
But here’s the real trick:
When you rotate the entire plate 180 degrees, the characters appear as:
  • V → still V (symmetrical)
  • S → still S
  • S → S
  • H → H (also symmetrical)
  • 0 → O
  • 7 → looks like L or T, depending on font
  • 3 → looks like E
So 370HSSV flipped becomes: VSSH073 → which many read as “VSSHOLE”—a crude slang term.
Ah—now the humor (and controversy) makes sense!
In the right font—especially the blocky style used on WA plates—370HSSV flipped strongly resembles “VSSHOLE” (a play on “asshole”), with:
  • 3 → E
  • 7 → L
  • 0 → O
  • HSSV → VSSH → sounds like “assh” when reversed
Put it all together upside down: “E L O H S S V” → visually and phonetically nudges toward “asshole.”
That’s why it went viral: it’s a clever, plausible-deniability prank that slipped through the system by using numbers and symmetry—much like classic “58008” (BOOBS) calculator gags.
And while Transport WA rejects plates like RAMP4GE (“rampage”) or SAUC3D (“sauced”), this one likely flew under the radar because on its face, 370HSSV looks like a random alphanumeric string—only revealing its mischief when flipped.
A masterclass in subversive wordplay… and a reminder that sometimes, perspective changes everything. 😏