Essential English phrases

The area code, and the region's name for itself. 'From the 757' means Hampton Roads — Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News and Suffolk together.

The region, and also the body of water it is named for — 'roads' is an old nautical term for a sheltered anchorage. Seven cities around one harbour, with no county government between them.

The 1971 Army Corps structure protecting downtown. It is FEMA-accredited, which means properties behind it get a lower flood insurance rate — a real dollar difference between two streets a few hundred metres apart.

The early-1900s neighbourhood west of downtown around the Hague inlet — Norfolk's most desirable older housing, and also some of its most reliably flooded streets.

Tidal flooding with no storm involved — a high tide, a full moon, an onshore wind, and certain streets are simply under water. Locals plan around it; newcomers discover it.

The highest predicted tides of the year, usually around the autumn equinox. The city publishes the dates and the list of streets that flood. Check it before choosing where to park.

The city's single point of contact for services and complaints — bins, potholes, flooded drains. Call 757-664-6510 rather than hunting for a department.

Permanent Change of Station — a military posting move. It sets the rhythm of the rental market here: a large share of leases turn over in the same few summer months.

Security clearance. In a Navy town it is a routine hiring question, and for a non-citizen it is the single most consequential word in the local job market.

Beware the ambiguity: Norfolk Naval Shipyard is in Portsmouth, across the river, and Newport News Shipbuilding is a different company again. Getting this wrong on a job application is a local rite of passage.

The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. Along with the Monitor-Merrimac, Downtown and Midtown tunnels it is why traffic here is not about distance but about which crossing you need and at what hour.

Norfolk's light rail line — the only light rail in Virginia. It runs a short east-west route through downtown and shares a flat fare with every HRT bus and ferry.