When the U.S. military finished building the Alaska Highway through Canada during World War II, it left behind mementoes, including a variety of place names. But a couple names sometimes credited to the U.S. Army are not fit for vehicle license plates, says the Yukon government. The Whitehorse Daily Star reports on the attempt by the territory to recall Douglas Potter's recently acquired license plate. Potter won't give it up without a fight. Continued on jump

"Unfortunately, SNAFU appears on our list of banned vanity plates based on ‘offensive language' connotations," reads the March 5 letter to Douglas Potter from the motor vehicles branch directing him to return his two plates by April 15.

The letter from vehicle registrar Robb Andison says Potter can either exchange the plates at no charge or receive a full refund.

But it also notes he can appeal the decision - and Potter plans to.

"Yeah, I like the plate," he said in an interview shortly after receiving Andison's letter.

The Riverdale resident said he applied for the plate last spring because he has fond memories of Snafu Lake on the Atlin Road.

"It's a great lake," Potter said. "I have not caught too many fish there, but it is a great lake for the kids.

A friend of Potter's tried to get a license plate reading TARFU -- the moniker of another military-named lake in the southern Yukon -- but was turned down. Potter wonders how the territory can ban the use of words that appear in government publications.

The Yukon government, said Potter, has named a campground after the [SNAFU] acronym, a lake and a creek.

"The Snafu campground sign is a big freakin' sign, and they say a little licence plate is offensive," Potter said. "Some of the plates, I understand, are offensive, but this word has been around longer than I have."

The lakes are south of the Alaska Highway on the road to Atlin, British Columbia, about an hour from Whitehorse. Though Potter says he heard the U.S. military named the lakes, other sources credit Canadian military engineers. But there's widespread agreement that SNAFU originated with the American military. And the notoriously difficult construction of the Alaska Highway no doubt gave engineers plenty of opportunity to put their new acronym to use.