In a story about Oklahoma's new license plate – which features a scissor-tailed flycatcher – KOTV reporter Rick Wells writes, "You don't have to get a new plate right away; instead, when your current one expires, go to a tag agent, pay the renewal fee and they'll give you the bird."

The Urban Dictionary defines "give the bird" as "to make a very impolite sign by raising your middle finger towards someone in order to show that you are angry with them".

This situation is reminiscent of the first-ever cartoon featuring Tweety Bird. In the cartoon, cats Babbit and Catstello are trying to catch and eat Tweety. One scene goes like this:



Babbit meant a literal bird, but Catstello wanted to give Babbit the other kind of bird.

Hopefully, Oklahoma motorists won't be given the latter when they go to buy new license plates for their vehicles.

(*The Hays Office regulated what could be said and shown in cartoons during the 1940s.)

clever play on words,,,,

I contacted the reporter's editor by email, telling him that the reporter had made a hilarious mistake. The editor wrote back, asking, "What makes you think that it was a mistake?"

Having listened to the reporter on a local newscast on more than one occasion, I should have considered it possible that the reporter intentionally used a double entendre. This particular reporter has a knack for adding comedy to his reporting.

Good catch and well OK will nickel and dime ppl to death there.

On a side note:

Given the bird origin is in Europe. Can't remember which king it was but wanted to cut off the third finger of all men so they could not shoot a bow and arrow.

I thought it was because the king didn't want any man to give him the bird.

I read that somewhere as well. The claim was, that displaying that one had your bow fingers, was a defiant gesture.

It fits better in England, where "the bird" at least USED TO mean holding up TWO fingers, and not one. And the two fingers involved, were the ones used to correctly draw the bowstring before firing.

Here, it is thought of much more sexually, of course, implying an unpleasant form of sexual assault.

Oh, and if you watch the old cartoons, you'll find TONS of examples of sneaky "adult" humor like that. This is because most of the early cartoons weren't meant for children at all.