Essential English phrases

Denver sits at exactly 5,280 feet — one mile. There is a step on the Capitol marked at that height, and the altitude is a genuine daily factor, not a slogan.

The eastern edge of the Rockies and the urban corridor along it from Fort Collins to Pueblo. Most of Colorado's population lives here.

Denver by its original area code, used as a local identity marker much like the 305 in Miami.

Lower Downtown and the River North Art District. Denver compresses neighbourhood names relentlessly.

Referenced constantly and for good reason — alcohol hits harder, you dehydrate faster, sun exposure is stronger, and your first two weeks of exercise will be humbling.

A licensed cannabis shop. Recreational sale has been legal since 2014, it is a normal high-street business here, and the rules about where you may consume are stricter than visitors expect.

A peak over 14,000 feet. Colorado has 58 of them and climbing them is a serious local pastime with its own etiquette and dangers.

A day after heavy snowfall. Calling in sick for one is an understood, if unspoken, part of the local employment contract.

The motorway into the mountains, and the single greatest source of local frustration. Sunday afternoon eastbound in ski season is a legend.

A pork and roasted green chile stew, poured over everything. Colorado's version is thicker and pork-heavy compared with New Mexico's, and the rivalry is real.

A rapidly intensifying spring storm that can drop two feet of snow in March after a week of shorts weather. Colorado's snowiest months are often March and April.

911 for emergencies; 311 for Denver city services — snow removal, potholes, parking.