Essential English phrases

Little Rock, shortened. 'La Petite Roche' was the rock outcrop on the south bank that French explorers used as a landmark; what is left of it sits under the railway bridge in Riverfront Park and you can walk down to it.

The area code for central Arkansas and a genuine identity marker — it is on T-shirts, band names and beer labels. Arkansas was one area code statewide until 1997 and 501 kept the capital.

South Main — the strip of Main Street south of the interstate, redeveloped from vacancy into the city's most walkable food and shop corridor. Newcomers who only see downtown miss it entirely.

The historic downtown of North Little Rock, across the river. It is a separate city with its own mayor, police, school district and sales tax rate, which surprises people who think of the metro as one place.

The flat alluvial farmland east of Little Rock, running to the Mississippi. Little Rock sits exactly on the seam between the Delta and the mountains, which is most of why it is here.

The pedestrian and cycle bridge over Murray Lock and Dam, and yes, that is the official name. It anchors the Arkansas River Trail loop and locals are entirely unembarrassed about it.

The Arkansas Razorbacks' hog call, performed with both arms raised. It is a state ritual rather than a campus one, and you will hear it in bars across Little Rock on a Saturday.

The mountain range starting immediately west of the city — one of the few in North America running east-west. Pinnacle Mountain, twenty minutes from downtown, is the first of them.

The Arkansas ritual of reporting your vehicles to the county assessor between 1 January and 31 May. Miss it and there is a 10% penalty, and you cannot renew a tag without the receipt. Every Arkansan knows the deadline; no newcomer does.

A downpour heavy enough that the storm drains give up. Central Arkansas gets several a year, mostly in spring, and it is the standard local term for one.

Roughly March to May, and a second smaller peak in autumn — the months when severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are a live possibility. Sirens are tested weekly and taken seriously the rest of the time.

Arkansas claims to have invented it, in North Little Rock in 1935, and holds an annual competition about it. Do not call it queso in a Little Rock restaurant unless you want a conversation.