SAN FRANCISCO  Oh, Arnold.

In an apparent effort to infuse the dry work of government with a dash of manly brio, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently issued a veto statement that contained a message  and not a nice message  that some interpret as a put-down of the bill’s author.

The message can be seen only by a careful reading of the printed version of the veto statement. By taking the first letter of each line, beginning with the third line, two words emerge: The first is obscene; the second is “you.”

There is history here, of course. The bill in question, which would have assisted financing for projects along the San Francisco waterfront, was sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a Democrat from the city who recently heckled the governor at a Democratic gala here after Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, unexpectedly decided to speak at the event.

Mr. Ammiano, who is gay and was upset over cuts to state-financed AIDS programs, shouted at the governor, calling him a liar. Mr. Ammiano also apparently shouted another  more vulgar  insult.