The state, or the District? That’s what people were asking on one online forum. And there wouldn’t be this confusion if the Federal District was referred to by its official name — the District of Columbia — rather than “Washington.”
There was a lively discussion on one site as a result of the “Free DC” protests taking place in the District of Columbia on 6 September 2025 as a result of the thin-skinned dictator/the 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual assaulter in the white house taking over DC, particularly with the national guard troops in the streets and on the National Mall. By the way, the national guard troops are expected to be there until at least the end of December 2025.
No one that I saw used the word “Washington” on their protest sign. Everyone used DC without periods, which is correct.
The discussion had to do with “Washington” (the Federal District) versus “Washington” (The State of Washington) on the US West Coast.
It was pointed out on the forum that residents of the District of Columbia do not refer to the District as “Washington.” They say either the District or DC, and that’s because there is no “Washington” in DC. They are synonymous.
Residents of The State of Washington get pissed and confused when they hear the corporate media constantly say, “From Washington….” The residents of The State of Washington (the official name for the state) think the corporate media are referring to their state, rather than the District of Columbia (the Federal District, the US nation’s capital).
As I’ve written before, there would be no confusion over this if the corporate media, politicians and others would refer to the US nation’s capital by its official name/title which is: the District of Columbia. And refer to the state as: The State of Washington.
But that’s too easy of a solution.
And we all know that the corporate media don’t have the intelligence to do that, so the sheeple get confused and will remain confused.
I never use the language “Washington” — unless it’s part of the name of an organisation I belonged to when I lived in the District — nor do I use the language “Washington DC” (cringe) because having lived in the District of Columbia for several years, I know better and I know that District residents say either the District (with an initial caps D) or DC. Even the residents in the DMV (the acronym for District, Maryland and Virginia) suburbs know better and they know not to call the capital city, “Washington DC.”
So is there a solution to this confusion? There is, but I’m afraid that the corporate media, politicians and the sheeple are not about to call the US nation’s capital by its official name which is the District of Columbia. And when they refer to the state on the US West Coast they won’t use the official name of that either which is “The State of Washington.”
Therefore, this problem will continue. World without end, amen.
The people I know use the correct language from knowing me. But even AI is wrong on this. AI says there’s a “City of Washington” in the District of Columbia. Wrong. Again, Washington and the District of Columbia are synonymous. They mean the same thing, so when someone says “Washington DC” it’s redundant. It’s like saying “San Francisco, San Francisco.” That’s how it was explained to me by a Georgetown University Law School student.
As a former District resident, I of course get annoyed every time I read or hear “Washington DC.” But I know that one can’t spend one’s life correcting stupid people because one cannot fix stupid. So I just move on rather than asking the writer: Why didn’t you use the official name for the US nation’s capital? The official name is not “Washington DC.” That’s the sheeple name/the name used by the corporate media for the stupid people who don’t know what the District of Columbia is or where it is. They think it’s in Colombia (note different spelling) or they think it’s British Columbia. You can’t fix stupid, so don’t waste your time trying!
And of course they have to put periods in between D and C, even though the United States Postal Service abandoned periods back in the 1980s. Yes, that long ago. So all states and the District have two letters without periods:
DC
VA
PA
CA
and so on.
But again, one cannot fix stupid. So there. And the protesters in the District for the “Free DC” protest used no periods between DC on their protest signs. They know better.
I remember complaining to one of the major publications in the District about this. They always write, “D.C.” as most people unfortunately and erroneously do. And I was told by a reader that the site is using some outdated, archaic style book so they will always write DC wrong on their site, as they consistently do.
So for future reference, since I don’t cater to stupid people like everybody else does:
The name of the US nation’s capital is: the District of Columbia
The name of the US West Coast City: The State of Washington
As for the stupid people, if the corporate media, politicians and others were to use the language above, people might just eventually learn what and where the District of Columbia is, and realise it’s the same thing as DC. There seems to be a major disconnect. Even the stupid people know that DC is supposed to be on the end of “Washington,” (when it’s written for the sheeple), but they don’t know what DC stands for or means.
Fin./The End. Muchas Gracias. Danke.