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As i have started traveling more & more recently, both overseas by plane, & up & down the coast by car, I have realized that no one calls this city DC unless you are from here. Overseas everyone calls it Washington, up & down the coast a majority of people call it Washington, all highway signs say Washington, we are called Washingtonians, almost all our sports teams are Washington _____, & the people trying to bring the Olympics here are calling it the Washington Olympics. Is it time We stop calling it DC & make it more simple for everyone by just changing the name to Washington City? I feel like it would be so much easier to adopt the name that everyone knows us by. & there really is no reason as to why we call ourselves DC. Not to mention continuing to use the term "District" implies that we are just a federal district & hinders & home rule initiatives. but what do you all think?
Often when people say "Washington" they mean the District plus the 'burbs. If someone says "The District" or DC, they mean just the District of Columbia.
DC is just a shorthand nickname like "Philly" for Philadelphia, "Cincy" for Cincinatti, the
"Burgh" for Pittsburgh, etc. It's alot easier to say than "Washington".
The reason why it is referred to as DC even outside of the regional area, is the fact that Washington is a state in the pacific northwest. Using DC avoids confusion. I have had to clarify many times to foriegners that the state and the city are on opposite ends of the country.
It should also be noted our local government is called "The Government of the District of Columbia". Not the government of washington, DC or the government of washington. It's DC. Even the local government website is DC.gov.
The reason why it is referred to as DC even outside of the regional area, is the fact that Washington is a state in the pacific northwest. Using DC avoids confusion. I have had to clarify many times to foriegners that the state and the city are on opposite ends of the country.
It should also be noted our local government is called "The Government of the District of Columbia". Not the government of washington, DC or the government of washington. It's DC. Even the local government website is DC.gov.
So my vote is also for DC.
This was discussed ad nausium a couple moths ago. Washington is also correct. The people from the state should make sure they clarify.
Often when people say "Washington" they mean the District plus the 'burbs. If someone says "The District" or DC, they mean just the District of Columbia.
I agree. Not to mention there is a Washington, VA, a Washington, PA, and a Washington County in MD. When you say the District, everyone here knows you mean the actual city.
Or the confusion when you are trying to say City of Baltimore, Baltimore County, or the Baltimore metro area. Or the City of Alexandria vs. the parts of Fairfax County called Alexandria. Or the Mt. Vernon area with a mailing address of Alexandria.
The District or DC is just super easy and doesn't cause any confusion for the locals here. I also like how it emphasizes we just aren't a city, but a weird federal creation that is kind of in a no man's land.
But wasn't it originally named Washington to honor George Washington? By having the official name Be District of Columbia all you are doing is honoring a man who committed mass genocide. Not to mention, no one gets Kansas City confused with Kansas, everyone knows that Kansas City is in Missouri. by calling it Washington City you would avoid confusion with the state. Similar to NYC & New York, if you are from the city you add the city part t the end of New York as to not confuse people. But as everyone is saying, the official name for the district is District of Columbia, so why do we keep tacking on the Washington part at the beginning. There seems to be a lot of confusion already
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