DC has a culture all of its own and often that means, it’s own language. If you’re visiting or maybe just moved here, these 9 DC phrases might clue you in to what Washingtonians are discussing.

1. "I have a meeting on the Hill"
Flickr/Pierre-Selim
The Hill is not an actual hill. It’s what most people call the Capitol building.
2. "Let’s go for a run at the Mall"
Flickr/paweesit
When people in DC say "the Mall," they are not referring to a shopping mall. It’s almost always the National Mall. If someone in DC is going to a shopping mall, they’ll refer to it by its name like "Pentagon City" or "Tysons."
3. "I live off the red/yellow/orange/green/blue/silver line."
Flickr/Andy Tucker
Most Washingtonians just understand the general layout of metro lines and will use it towards details for where they live.
4. "Outside the Beltway"
Flickr/bankbryan
The beltway has nothing to do with belts. The Beltway is the name name for I-495. DC is inside the Beltway and Maryland and Virginia (and the rest of the country) is outside the beltway.
5. "I’m cised!"
Flickr/Giench
Cised is a DC slang term for excited. If someone is "cised," it just means they are excited.

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6. "Beat your feet."
Flickr/Elvert Barnes
It does not mean tapping your feet or anything else like that. Beat Your Feet is a form of dance that is done to go-go music.
7. "It’s in Northeast."
Flickr/Ted Eytan
DC is split into quadrants and if we don’t explain where we are going by our Metro line then we’ll explain it by the quadrant.
8. "She lives in Nova."
Flickr/Ken Lund
Nova means Northern Virginia. If someone is going to Nova, they are going across the bridge into Northern Virginia.
9. "They saw Ovi last night!"
Flickr/Dinur
Ovi is Alex Ovechkin, the beloved Capitals hockey star who is frequently spotted out and about town.
10. "I live in an English basement."
Flickr/Jean Flanagan
An English basement is an apartment on the lowest floor of a building like a townhouse or row house. They are usually below ground level and many people often rent them out.
11. "Do you go to GW or AU?"
Flickr/Daimon Eklund
These are not random abbreviations but stand for George Washington University and American University, just two of the colleges here in DC.

So, did we miss your favorite DC phrase? If you knew all of these, see if you do any of these 13 things odd things that only Washingtonians do!

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