Entry · catalog no. 5020
DMV
/ /ˌdiː ɛm ˈviː/ /dee-em-VEE
proper noun · Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia · 2000s
✓ Verified
1.
The whole DC region treated as one place: the District plus its Maryland and Virginia suburbs. Used as a regional identity, especially in the local go-go and hip-hop scenes.
“It doesn't matter if you're from PG or from the District; if you're from the DMV, you know the sound.”
Origin & Attribution
The Washington Post reported in 2010 that the origin of "the DMV" was unclear, with one local historian guessing at classified-ad shorthand, and that the name was established in hip-hop and go-go circles and on Black-oriented radio. Washingtonian's 2015 reporting credits the go-go musician Kibwe Galloway of Brothers Need Brothers as the original coiner, using it to break down the wall between city and suburban audiences, and describes the rapper and promoter 20Bello hearing it by 2003 and spreading it with Dre All Day in the Paint and DJ Rob "Mista DMV." It spread as gentrification pushed the District's Black music scene into the suburbs, and it gradually joined and partly replaced "Chocolate City" as a regional label. It has no connection to the state motor-vehicle agencies sharing the initials.
2003
Promoter 20Bello hears the name; go-go and hip-hop figures spread it
2010
The Washington Post reports the nickname is common and its origin unclear
2012
Nicki Minaj lists 'the whole DMV' in 'Beez in the Trap'
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia · 2000s
Spoken by
Black Washingtonians, the go-go and hip-hop community; now all residents
$DMVThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady23 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
85/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
2003
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Paul Farhi, 'After initial obscurity, The DMV nickname for Washington area picks up speed,' The Washington Post, July 29, 2010
2010
■
Benny B. Peterson, 'Who's Responsible for Naming Greater Washington the DMV?,' Washingtonian, July 6, 2015
2015
■
+ Cite a sourceNicki Minaj, 'Beez in the Trap' (Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded)
2012
See also