English Phrases to Get You Through a New York City Day March 6, 2017

Learning English in a new city can be a big enough hurdle as it is, and when you add in the extra obstacle of cultural sayings and catchphrases, it can be overwhelming. Slang and verbal shortcuts are constantly changing due to cultural influences like music and television, so it can be hard to keep up, even for us native New Yorkers!

“The City”

As I’ve mentioned before in previous posts, New York City has five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Typically speaking, it would be safe to assume that when someone says “The City,” they mean New York City as a whole, right? You’re actually most likely wrong! You’ll find that when someone says “The City,” it more than often generically refers to Manhattan. Because the majority of major business and corporations as well as cultural sites are located in Manhattan, this borough tends to become the default location for generic conversation about New York City. You might also find that if someone is referencing a borough other than Manhattan, they’re more than likely to use the specific name of the borough. In short, if you hear someone use “The City” in a generic way during a conversation, remember to default their reference to Manhattan, and you’ll be just fine!

“In a New York Minute”

You might have noticed by now that New Yorkers move fast, and it might seem like they’re always in a hurry. In New York City, everything is FAST. This expression is used all over the country to reference anything that takes place in an instant or immediately. For example, pretend your favorite musician is coming to Madison Square Garden soon. To express how quickly you’d purchase tickets to the show, you might say, “If my favorite band is really coming to Madison Square Garden, I’d buy tickets in a New York minute!”

“Only in New York City!”

You might hear this quite often actually, as New Yorkers embrace how diverse and exciting their city is. There’s always something happening, and it might seem like there’s never a dull moment here. The first time I caught myself saying this was when I was at the subway platform waiting for my train when I noticed a huge rat just gliding along the ground in front of the platform edge, and no one was reacting! Since this was the first rat that I’d seen since moving to New York, I was startled, but then I realized that the rest of New York City has probably seen hundreds of rats at this point, so they were completely numb to this. I whispered to myself, “Only in New York City!”

“Bodega”

One of the biggest adjustments I had to make upon moving to New York City was not having a beautiful grocery store with wide aisles and lots of variety when it came to brands and price. While there are indeed stunning grocery stores in the city, most of these places are extremely high-priced and cater to those with steep expendable incomes. Additionally, transferring your purchases from the store to your home is something else to consider for those of us that don’t have cars. So, for most of us, we tend to do our grocery shopping at units we call “bodegas.” These are usually corner shops that have your basics, like breads and cheeses, dry pastas, and coffee, as well as regular household products like detergent and shampoo. The aisles are narrow and cramped, and you have to limit your purchases, as there’s obviously no room for shopping carts. I recommend doing the bulk of your shopping here, as I’ve found the prices to be reasonable. For fresh products, like fruits and vegetables, street carts always have the best supply of all your needs, and they’re all so fresh and cheap!

“Excuse Me”

I’ve realized this is probably the phrase I use most often on a daily basis. Whether you’re saying it as a way to politely ask people to move just a bit for you or whether you say it because you’ve accidentally bumped into someone due to tight quarters, you might find yourself saying this a lot more often than you’d imagine. New York City is a city where people are quite close to one another, either in their living spaces, on the subway, or even in their office environment, so if you’re not used to giving up a bit of your personal space yet, you will very soon. I mean, hey—Only in New York City!