We reached out to our audiences on Instagram and Facebook to connect with Washingtonians and ask one simple question: “What are some instant giveaways that someone is not from D.C.?”
All of your answers were as hilarious as they were insightful!
What is the biggest giveaway that someone isn’t from D.C.?
According to the Washingtonians who replied to our query, the biggest giveaway was standing on the left side of the escalator, which as any seasoned local from the District would know is one of the most understood unspoken rules of the capital city.
That being said, there were so many incredible (both accurate and funny) ways Washingtonians can spot when someone isn’t from D.C., so, naturally, we need to share them all with you !
- They say Baltimore is part of the DMV.
- They always say DC instead of “the District”.
- They don’t know the quickest travel routes for each time of day.
- They don’t know Mumbo Sauce.
- “They say the letter street name and then the number, for example, K & 18th. Its number then letter, 18th & K.”
- They call Reagan instead of National or DCA.
- They refer to the metro as the subway.
- They don’t know what the inner loop vs outer loop are.
- They add an ‘S’ to Silver Spring.
- They don’t instantly ask “So, where do you work?”.
- They don’t know Go-Go.
- They don’t pay attention to the NW/NE/SW/SE in street addresses.
- They think DMV means the other kind of DMV.
- They think seeing a motorcade is cool.
- They think the National Mall is a shopping center.
- They call the city “Washington”.
- They call it “the National Mall” instead of “the Mall”.
There were more, of course, and some were super obvious like, “They ask for directions to the Washington Monument” or “They are standing at the White House gates”, but in our opinion, those people are so clearly tourists… So it’s pretty easy to assume they aren’t from the District.