Why is there no name for the Maryland side of DC? (Baltimore: live, moving to)

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

DMV would be DC - Maryland - Virginia - IE an area that already has a name - Greater Washington. Its not specifically a name for the Md suburbs of DC.

Ive never heard my daughter refer to the DMV, except as where she wants to go get her learners permit. She would just say "the Washington area"

Interesting thread in general.

As someone who recently became interested in the Washington DC area a few years ago...

I've always associated 'Washington' with Washington State. Unless I hear the words 'DC', I'm thinking the Pacific Northwest.

So, if years ago, someone had said 'Greater Washington', I'd be thinking it was some all-inclusive term to include Vancouver, BC and Portland, OR....and with a second thought thinking of the greater DC area.

Regarding DMV. Yeah, it's only on these forums I've become familiar with that. It wasn't until pure repetitiveness that I disassociated it as something different from the Dept of Motor Vehicles. For the entire nation to take on that term, it'll take a huge hit Hollywood movie or tv show with that in the program title.

Plus, at the end of the day, it's probably only surburban DC Marylanders who'd use the term. I don't think NoVA or DC would use DMV to describe their area.

If I were to eventually live in Maryland suburbs of DC, I'd probably use 'I live in the DC area' and occassionally clarify it more with 'of Maryland' to describe it to people nationally.

On that note, I've met a few Marylander DC suburbanites who've been far from this area, and they'll usually just say 'I'm from Maryland'. This always registered a 'blank' feeling in my mind, I couldn't associate anything in particular for that. Years later, I've realized that most of those Marylanders I've met were actually from the DC suburbs. I could have placed them MUCH better in my mind, had they just said 'I'm from Maryland, in the DC area'.

[MDAllstar]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Interesting thread in general.

As someone who recently became interested in the Washington DC area a few years ago...

I've always associated 'Washington' with Washington State. Unless I hear the words 'DC', I'm thinking the Pacific Northwest.

So, if years ago, someone had said 'Greater Washington', I'd be thinking it was some all-inclusive term to include Vancouver, BC and Portland, OR....and with a second thought thinking of the greater DC area.

Regarding DMV. Yeah, it's only on these forums I've become familiar with that. It wasn't until pure repetitiveness that I disassociated it as something different from the Dept of Motor Vehicles. For the entire nation to take on that term, it'll take a huge hit Hollywood movie or tv show with that in the program title.

Plus, at the end of the day, it's probably only surburban DC Marylanders who'd use the term. I don't think NoVA or DC would use DMV to describe their area.

If I were to eventually live in Maryland suburbs of DC, I'd probably use 'I live in the DC area' to describe it to people nationally.

The Hip Hop Stations and rappers and our first rapper "Wale" use it heavily now. Our Gospel station in DC uses it too. Mainstream entertainment is how regions get labeled. That is why it's catching on. How do you think Atlanta became the "A" or "ATL"?

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by MDAllstar

The Hip Hop Stations and rappers and our first rapper "Wale" use it heavily now. Our Gospel station in DC uses it too. Mainstream entertainment is how regions get labeled. That is why it's catching on. How do you think Atlanta became the "A" or "ATL"?

"ATL" makes sense...airport abbreviations just make sense to me.

If I heard 'The A', it wouldn't make sense to me. Probably my first reaction was some player from the Oakland A's was just such the man, that fans were referring him to 'The A'.

On that note, being from the MI area, people regularly associate Detroit there as 'The D' or 'The Big D'. However, unless someone was in or immediately around Detroit, I don't think others outside of the region would connect 'D' with Detroit at all. Actually, I don't think I would associate it with Detroit either, unless I'm physically back in my home state either.

[North Beach Person]

"Big D" is also used for Dallas, TX, which is what I would think of if I heard it.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by MDAllstar

DMV has already taken hold so it's really to late. Radio stations, TV stations, and entertainers are already calling it the DMV. It's only a matter of time before its being used by most people around the nation. Old people in their 40's+ may not like it, but they are headed out of the realm of influence so it's a mute point. 5-10 years from now, this conversation will be an after thought.

You may be right. "DMV" is not really a cross-over term yet among non-AA kids in NoVa. But there are lots of white and Asian kids in McLean who call it "MacTown," presumably because a name that sounds like "Motown" seems more interesting than a name that conjures up images of plaid tartans and Dick Cheney, so "DMV" may catch on eventually, too.

When I lived in Harford County, we never called it "Central Maryland." We called it "outside Bawlmer." I would think older people in suburban MD near DC would just go with "outside DC" for now.

[kjg1963]

I always just said I was from "Maryland, just outside DC." I grew up just about 5 miles from the DC line. Now I have to say I live halfway between Baltimore and DC (Laurel). I don't ever think I've mentioned being in the suburbs, however.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by MDAllstar

The Hip Hop Stations and rappers and our first rapper "Wale" use it heavily now. Our Gospel station in DC uses it too. Mainstream entertainment is how regions get labeled. That is why it's catching on. How do you think Atlanta became the "A" or "ATL"?

Hip Hop is Mainstream?

DMV sucks as a name for here.

ATL is, and has been for a long time, the airport code for Atlanta. That's where it came from.

[btsilver]

Originally Posted by dkf747

Hip Hop is Mainstream?

Yes.

99.5, a very popular station among non-black young adults and youths use the term DMV all the time. They even use the term DMV on 107.3 as well. The DMV term has been used ever since I've been here starting in college and that was back in '99. Most people under 35 that have been living in the DMV for at least 6 months know what it stands for around here when you in that way.

[DC's Finest]

Originally Posted by MDAllstar

The Hip Hop Stations and rappers and our first rapper "Wale" use it heavily now. Our Gospel station in DC uses it too. Mainstream entertainment is how regions get labeled. That is why it's catching on. How do you think Atlanta became the "A" or "ATL"?

I have heard the term DMV on mainstream tv stations like E, VH1 and in a lot of Hip Hop references.

[tarp]

Radio is irrelevant these days, and stupid hip-hop kid terms like "the DMV" are not mainstream nor will ever be mainstream. DMV = Department of Motor Vehicles. Plus the term "DMV" is pretty darn ambiguous. Is Richmond, VA part of the "DMV"? It's part of Virginia, isn't it? What about Salisbury, MD? It's part of Maryland, so it must be part of "D.C./Maryland/Virginia" aka "DMV," right? The term "the DMV" does nothing to isolate the portions of the states of Maryland and Virginia that function as suburbs for Washington, D.C., therefore it is a useless term. Typical of anything that comes out of the trash that is modern "hip-hop culture."

If you want a term that makes sense, look at GTA (Greater Toronto Area). That term is in common use throughout Toronto and its suburbs, and it makes total sense since it describes exactly that - the Greater Toronto Area. DMV does not specify anything, it just makes two states and a district. A better term would be GWMA - Greater Washington Metropolitan Area.