It seems odd, however we here at DCist realized recently we had not mentioned the peculiar DC-region practice of slugging. The term refers to the practice of strangers sharing a ride to work in order to utilize the High Occupancy Vehicle Lane in Northern Virginia highways. The helpful website Slug-Lines.com is chock full of interesting details including a comprehensive slugging etiquette guide. Northern Virginia commuters have created an informal system of rules and practices with specific rules for passengers, fixed slug line locations, and even an online lost and found and collection of slugging poems.

The website Word Spy dates the phrase to at least the 1980s, and the Slug-Lines.com site says slugging began with the opening of the first High Occupancy Vehicle lane in 1971, although concedes the practice didn’t become more widespread until the 1980s.

We were reminded of slugging after reading an account of the practice by Justin Miller on the blog of DC area tech firm Echoditto. He describes his uneventful slugging experience, observing that “The Pentagon lot, by the way, has formal signs posted along the sidewalk clearly labeling the sluglines to various and sundry outlying areas.” Have you ever slugged to work?