Essential English phrases

Two syllables, silent C — never 'TUCK-son'. From the O'odham Cuk Ṣon, 'at the base of the black hill', meaning the dark volcanic slope of Sentinel Peak on the west side of downtown.

The summer storm season, officially 15 June to 30 September. Roughly half of Tucson's yearly rain falls in those weeks, in violent short bursts that flood washes and streets within minutes.

A mountain range rising out of desert into forest — the Santa Catalinas, Rincons and Santa Ritas around Tucson. Driving up Mount Lemmon takes you through the ecological equivalent of Mexico to Canada in about an hour.

An evaporative cooler. Cheap to run in dry May, close to useless once monsoon humidity arrives in July. Whether a flat has one of these or refrigerated air is the most important rental question in the city.

Sentinel Peak, west of downtown, with a whitewashed concrete A on its flank painted by University of Arizona students since 1916. The road to the top is the standard place to take a visitor at sunset.

Tucson's own name for itself, used constantly by radio, businesses and the newspaper. It refers to the walled Presidio San Agustín the Spanish built here in 1775.

Half-joking name for southern Arizona, which votes, eats and thinks differently from Phoenix. Used with real affection and a little separatism.

The Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase, spread across dozens of venues each late January and February. It is the largest event of its kind in the world and it takes over the hotels, the traffic and half the conversations in town.

A dry sandy channel that carries a river only during a storm. Tucson is threaded with them, they are dry 350 days a year, and driving into a flooded one is the single most dangerous ordinary mistake you can make here.

911 for emergencies. 520 is the area code for Tucson and effectively all of southern Arizona — unlike the Phoenix metro, there is only one and it carries no geographic signal.

Bacon-wrapped, in a bolillo roll, with pinto beans, onion, tomato, mayonnaise, mustard and a roasted güero chile. A Tucson institution rather than a novelty, and usually sold from a cart after dark.

Puerto Peñasco, on the Gulf of California — Tucson and Phoenix's beach, about four hours by road through Mexico. 'Going to Rocky Point' needs a passport and Mexican car insurance, and everyone here has done it.