Essential English phrases

Metropolitan Area Projects — the city's signature funding device since 1993: a temporary one-cent sales tax, approved by voters, spent as it is collected on a defined list of capital projects, with no borrowing and therefore no interest. Four rounds so far. It is why the sales tax here is high and why the downtown looks the way it does.

An engineered above-ground shelter, usually in a garage or a closet, built to withstand tornado-strength wind and debris. Oklahoma houses generally have no basements, so this or an in-ground storm cellar is the shelter. 'Do you have a safe room?' is a normal question about a rental here.

The outdoor warning sirens, tested at noon on Saturdays. They are designed to be heard outdoors, not indoors — so they are a backup to a weather radio and phone alerts, never the primary warning. Locals distinguish a watch (conditions are possible) from a warning (take shelter now) instinctively.

The winter hazard people underestimate here. Freezing rain coats trees and power lines, brings limbs down across whole neighbourhoods and can take out power for days. It does more cumulative damage in this city than snow ever does.

The free health and social services referral line for Oklahoma. It is the number for housing help, utility assistance, shelter information after a storm and benefits questions — 911 stays for emergencies.

The one-mile grid the whole city is laid out on, inherited from the federal land survey. Major arterials run exactly a mile apart, addresses are numbered off the grid, and everyone navigates by 'it's at 23rd and May' rather than by district names.

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's toll transponder. Oklahoma has one of the largest turnpike networks in the country, most of it now cashless, so getting one is a first-week job if you will drive to Tulsa or Lawton.

22 April 1889, when the Unassigned Lands were opened and Oklahoma City went from empty prairie to a tent city of thousands in a single afternoon. It is the founding story, it is on the murals, and it explains why the street grid is so relentlessly regular.

Someone who crossed into the territory before the legal start of a land run — originally an insult, later the University of Oklahoma's mascot and the state's nickname. 'Boomer Sooner' is the OU chant and you will hear it constantly in the autumn.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA team, and the closest thing this city has to a shared civic identity. In December 2023 voters approved a further sales tax to build them a new downtown arena — the same funding logic as MAPS.

A Depression-era Oklahoma invention: shaved onion smashed into the patty on the griddle so it caramelises into the meat. El Reno, half an hour west, is its home and holds a festival for it. Ordering one without onion misses the entire point.

Tenderised beef, breaded and fried like fried chicken, served under cream gravy. It is the state meal's centrepiece and it is on every diner menu here. Not to be confused with fried chicken, and locals will correct you.

The warehouse district east of downtown, redeveloped by the first round of MAPS with a canal cut through it. It is the visitor-facing entertainment district; locals often prefer the Plaza District, the Paseo or Automobile Alley.

The Oklahoma City metropolitan area, including Edmond, Norman, Moore, Yukon and Midwest City. The city proper covers about 620 square miles across four counties, so 'in Oklahoma City' can mean a downtown flat or a farm forty minutes out.