Is "DMV" a low class / working class term?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know it from sports talk (radio, high school recruits who "are from the DMV") mostly.

--Bethesda resident.

Shows hosted by radio people who came here from someplace else, in other words.

Says the person who lives in Bethesda.

It’s a term that originated in hip hop and go go and has been prevalent since at least 2000.

If radio hosts use it, it’s because they may more attention to local culture than you do in whatever god forsaken HOA hellhole in Nova where you’ve built your cocoon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For some reason, I find the term "DMV" extremely cringy. It feels like it's for the kind of people that listen to those mindless Top 40 radio station shows in the morning.

No one in a nice part of DC, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, or Arlington would use this term, would they?

Of course not. People in a nice parts of Bethesda and Chevy Chase call it by its proper name, the MVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not low class but it is a relatively new term that had not been used before 10-15 years ago or so.

that's probably why some people don't like it. I find some of the DMV area (ahem) a bit classist, with the new "new money vs old money" attitude.

OTH, I cringe when I hear people call CA "Cali", or SF as "San Fran". I'm originally from there. So, I guess I'm a bit of a snob about labels, too.

This. DMV doesn’t bother me at all. Lived here for 30 years. Don’t really say it much but will type it here. Grew up in San Francisco and despise “Frisco” and “Cali.” Those are terrible and would never be uttered by someone from San Francisco (aka The City).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, check your racism OP.

Because DMV is frequently used in the black community, I guess that makes it “cringey” for you.

No it’s not. “DMV” is a term used by transplants who come here from somewhere else. Natives don’t use it because we’ve always said “DC metro” or “metro area” or just DC. “DMV” is not l a black thing. It’s a non-native thing.

Stop trying to find stuff to get offended about, Susan. Focus on reckoning with your own abundant racism.

Or you on your misogyny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wut.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Nothing screams “new to the area, living in the burbs and desperately insecure about my nouveau richeness and latent racism” than insisting that a term derived from local African American culture is something made up by people who are not from here.

Learn something about your community before speaking on it.

[Anonymous]

I'm upper middle class, have a graduate degree and work in a professional job, and have lived here for 40 years. I use DMV occasionally, and hear it among my peers. I would use it more if it weren't already a common acronym for the Dept of Motor Vehicles.
It's fine, and I would never associate it with a particular class.

[Anonymous]

Yes. It's for trash people. Like the people that refer to September 11th as "Nine eleven".

For God's sake, have the decency to use the full therm.

[Anonymous]

Popularized eons ago by WKYS and has only been picked up by white transplant DC in recent years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not low class but it is a relatively new term that had not been used before 10-15 years ago or so.

that's probably why some people don't like it. I find some of the DMV area (ahem) a bit classist, with the new "new money vs old money" attitude.

OTH, I cringe when I hear people call CA "Cali", or SF as "San Fran". I'm originally from there. So, I guess I'm a bit of a snob about labels, too.

This. DMV doesn’t bother me at all. Lived here for 30 years. Don’t really say it much but will type it here. Grew up in San Francisco and despise “Frisco” and “Cali.” Those are terrible and would never be uttered by someone from San Francisco (aka The City).

I know plenty of people born and raised in California who use Cali. The aversion to Cali is almost always insufferable transplants who worry it reveals them to be transplants. We don't use Cali.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing screams “new to the area, living in the burbs and desperately insecure about my nouveau richeness and latent racism” than insisting that a term derived from local African American culture is something made up by people who are not from here.

Learn something about your community before speaking on it.

I wouldn't say the aversion to it is racist, it's more so the status-insecure transplants and strivers don't want to brag about about being in a broad region, they want to brag to flyover state family they're in WASHINGTON D.C. and social climbing strivers want to make it known which specific affluent enclave they reside in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know it from sports talk (radio, high school recruits who "are from the DMV") mostly.

--Bethesda resident.

Shows hosted by radio people who came here from someplace else, in other words.

Says the person who lives in Bethesda.

It’s a term that originated in hip hop and go go and has been prevalent since at least 2000.

If radio hosts use it, it’s because they may more attention to local culture than you do in whatever god forsaken HOA hellhole in Nova where you’ve built your cocoon.

Hip hop loves it some acronyms.

VIP 24-7.

[Anonymous]

It depends who I am talking to. I moved to DC in 1991. I usually say the District, but sometimes I say the DMV. Depends on the circumstances.

It is definitely a newer term.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends who I am talking to. I moved to DC in 1991. I usually say the District, but sometimes I say the DMV. Depends on the circumstances.

It is definitely a newer term.

Newer and homegrown, but not "low class" or "working class".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends who I am talking to. I moved to DC in 1991.

I usually say the District, but sometimes I say the DMV

. Depends on the circumstances.

It is definitely a newer term.

What? They are not interchangeable. One is only one part of the other.

(And, yes, I was wondering what page of this thread someone would bring up the District vs DC