Essential English phrases

The broad basin holding Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell and Eagle. Locals say it the way Californians say 'the Bay Area' — the metro is the valley, not the city limits.

The raised terrace south-west of downtown, cut by the Boise River in the last ice age. It is a real geographic step, and 'up on the Bench' means older, cheaper, flatter neighbourhoods.

The riverside path running some 25 miles through the city. It is the actual spine of Boise — commuting, running and the summer float all happen on it.

The area code for the whole of Idaho, used as identity shorthand. The overlay 986 exists but nobody has adopted it as a badge.

Riding an inflatable tube down the Boise River from Barber Park to Ann Morrison Park on a summer afternoon. It is a genuine civic institution with a shuttle bus and a rental concession, not a novelty.

The trail network in the foothills immediately behind the city — nearly 200 miles of it, reachable on foot from downtown neighbourhoods. It is why people move here.

Boise State University's blue artificial turf, installed in 1986 and the first non-green field in college football. The university and the stadium set the autumn calendar here.

A short stretch of Grove Street that anchors one of the largest Basque diaspora communities anywhere outside Spain and France, complete with a museum, a boarding house and a frontón.

The winter weather pattern that traps cold, dirty air in the valley for days at a time under a lid of warmer air above. Air quality gets genuinely bad, and the fix is to drive up into the foothills.

Late summer, when wildfire smoke from Idaho, Oregon and California settles in the valley. Some years it is a week; some years it is most of August. Check AirNow before planning anything outdoors.

Idaho's name for its REAL ID credential — the one with the star that works at an airport security checkpoint. Asking for a 'REAL ID' at the DMV will get you there, but the local word is Star Card.

Ketchup and mayonnaise, roughly, served with chips everywhere in Idaho and Utah and essentially nowhere else. Declining it is treated as a character flaw.