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The DMV used the term 'San Fran' on driver's licenses. Residents weren't having it.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Look, if you refer to San Francisco as San Fran (ph), you might get dirty looks from people from there, including from myself, because it is lame. It is not a nickname that any resident uses. So when that term ended up emblazoned on a handful of residents driver's licenses recently, well, it caused a bit of commotion.

SCOTT WIENER: When I have told San Franciscans about this, they cringe. And one of the people who received a license with San Fran on it - when she told her mother about the situation, her mother immediately advised her to burn the license.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

That is California State Senator Scott Wiener, who represents San Fran-cisco (ph). This week, he wrote a letter to the head of the state's Department of Motor Vehicles, which reads, in part, I am requesting that DMV immediately cease and desist any and all uses of San Fran to refer to Tony Bennett's City by the Bay.

CHANG: Wiener pointed out in his letter that, quote, "no self-respecting San Franciscan would ever use the term San Fran."

KELLY: "As in truly never," he continued. Wiener told us there are plenty of other nicknames to choose from.

WIENER: SF; The City; City by the Bay - few people are allowed to use Frisco, but not very many people are allowed to use that - and then, of course, Best City in the World because it is the best city in the world.

CHANG: I would never even use Frisco. We did catch up with the DMV, by the way. They told us, quote, "the DMV agrees a no-nonsense San Francisco works best on a driver's license." They say it was a limited issue, which they have now fixed, and they promise that anyone whose license declares they live in San Fran can visit the DMV for a free replacement.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "(I LEFT MY HEART) IN SAN FRANCISCO")

TONY BENNETT: (Singing) I left my heart in San Francisco. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Jordan-Marie Smith
Jordan-Marie Smith is a producer with NPR's All Things Considered.
Christopher Intagliata is an editor at All Things Considered, where he writes news and edits interviews with politicians, musicians, restaurant owners, scientists and many of the other voices heard on the air.

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