15 Phrases Californians Use Without Realizing the Rest of the Country Doesn’t

Talk to a Californian for five minutes, and you may hear a word that needs a footnote.

Many of these terms come from the weather, the freeway or the tax bill, so people in other states never had a reason to learn them.

Here’s what these California phrases mean.

Note: This is general information, not legal, tax or health advice. Program rules, fees and deadlines are subject to change.

1. CalFresh

CalFresh is known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to the California Department of Social Services.

The program issues monthly electronic benefits.

If you use CalFresh, you can spend the benefits on most foods at many markets and food stores.

2. Diamond Lanes

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) lists diamond lanes as another name for carpool lanes, which it also calls high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.

HOV lanes are identified by signs along the freeway and white diamond symbols painted on the pavement.

If you have two or more people in your vehicle, you can use an HOV lane during its operational hours.

Some routes, such as I-80 and I-880 in the Bay Area, require three or more people in your vehicle.

3. June Gloom

June gloom is a band of low clouds and fog, known as the marine layer, that AccuWeather says develops almost daily within a few miles of the Southern California coastline.

ABC7 Los Angeles reported in 2023 that May gray and June gloom happen when the air near the ocean’s surface is cooler than the air above it.

That creates an inversion that traps the cooler air and forms marine layer clouds.

You can run into it outside June, too, since AccuWeather says it can occur in any month, especially from May through September.

4. Pink Slip

Pink slip is what the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) sometimes calls a car’s title.

If you buy a used car from a private seller, you need the title, signed by the person selling the car, to take over ownership.

The seller’s signature is required on Line 1 of the title.

Merriam-Webster defines a pink slip in the workplace as a notice from an employer that a recipient’s employment is being terminated.

5. Smog Check

The Bureau of Automotive Repair says Smog Checks help keep the state’s air clean and your vehicle running smoothly.

A Smog Check is required every other year to renew your vehicle registration.

If you drive a gasoline, hybrid or alternative-fuel vehicle from model year 1976 or newer, that requirement applies to you.

6. Medi-Cal

Medi-Cal is what the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) calls Medicaid for California.

Many people in other states just say Medicaid.

If you qualify, Medi-Cal gives you free or low-cost health coverage.

7. Spare the Air

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issues a Spare the Air Alert on days when air quality is forecast to be unhealthy.

During the summer months, ozone pollution, also known as smog, can become a health problem in the Bay Area.

In winter, or during wildfire events at any time of year, particulate matter pollution can reach unhealthy levels.

On days when particulate levels are forecast to be high, the alert makes wood burning illegal throughout the Bay Area.

If you burn wood in the Bay Area on one of those days, you’re breaking the rule unless your home qualifies for an exemption.

The Air District says a home can qualify when a registered wood-burning device certified by the Environmental Protection Agency is its sole source of heat.

An open-hearth fireplace doesn’t qualify.

8. Mello-Roos

Mello-Roos districts are special tax districts, according to the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).

They form when property owners in an area agree to impose a tax on property.

The state law behind them is the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982, according to Tulare County.

The tax commonly pays for streets, water, schools, parks and police, according to SCAG.

If you own property inside a district, you pay a levy that the county describes as a special assessment on property owners within it.

The assessment you pay goes toward the principal and interest on the district's bonds.

9. Fix-It Ticket

What's a fix-it ticket?

The California courts' self-help site says it's also called a correctable offense, which means you did something wrong but can fix the problem.

If you get one, you fix the problem by the due date and show proof to the court.

You can usually show that proof by having someone sign the Certificate of Correction on the back of your ticket.

You also pay a $25 fee for each fix-it ticket.

10. Diablo Winds

Diablo winds occur below canyons in the East Bay hills, part of the Diablo Range, according to the National Weather Service glossary.

If you're in the East Bay hills during an extreme event, the winds can exceed 60 mph.

They're similar to Santa Ana winds in southern California.

If you've heard of Santa Ana winds, they're strong, hot, dust-bearing winds that descend from inland desert regions to the Pacific Coast around Los Angeles.

11. Flex Alert

The California Independent System Operator issues a Flex Alert when it anticipates a shortage of energy supply, asking you to voluntarily conserve electricity.

The operator is a nonprofit that manages the flow of electricity along the high-voltage grid for 80 percent of California.

Flexalert.org says Flex Alerts are typically issued from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

They typically go out a day before they're needed, so you can prepare.

12. Prop 65

Prop 65 requires businesses to warn you about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.

The measure is formally the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, according to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA).

California voters approved it in November 1986, by a 63 to 37 percent margin.

The chemical list has grown to approximately 900 chemicals since it was first published in 1987.

A business has to warn you about a listed chemical unless the exposure is low enough to pose no significant risk of cancer.

It also doesn't have to warn you when the exposure is significantly below levels observed to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.

13. Transitional Kindergarten

Transitional kindergarten, or TK, is the first year of a two-year kindergarten program, according to the California Department of Education.

The program uses a curriculum that is age and developmentally appropriate.

If your child will turn four by September 1 of the school year, TK is for that child.

By the 2025-26 school year, local educational agencies were required to make TK available to every child who meets that cutoff.

14. Prop 13

Prop 13 refers to Proposition 13, the measure California voters approved in June 1978 to limit property taxes, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office.

Under it, a property's overall tax rate for all local governments serving the property is limited to 1 percent.

Each year after that, your property's taxable value increases by 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

If you buy a home, it's taxed at your purchase price in the year you buy it, and again at the new purchase price after a sale.

15. Botts' Dots

Botts' Dots are the round, raised, white markers you see on California freeways, according to ABC7 News.

They're named for Elbert D. Botts, a Caltrans engineer who oversaw the development of the raised markers in 1953.

They're meant to remind you to stay in your lane.