I can't say for certain what I'd do, because of course this isn't an actual character in an actual campaign that I'm DMing, but let me give some example answers:
Assuming this makes sense for your character (Sage background, History or Nature proficiency) this might be an autosuccess.
But this doesn't make it "magic words" because I didn't have this answer in mind when I created the challenge. Rather, I'm responding to what the player proposes.
Ranger with favored terrain, or your character is from this area? Sure, autosuccess.
Roll History. Or maybe roll Nature.
"Can you phrase this as an action instead of a question?"
See the difference? By phrasing it as an action:
1) It encourages you to engage with the fiction, instead of engaging with the mechanics.
2) Why would you NOT want to give the DM some reason for granting you an auto-success?
Also bear in mind that maybe (for whatever reason) I think this information is more obscure, in which case I increase the difficulty of everything. So the first two action declarations might become ability checks, and the more vague ones become auto-failures. Or maybe the second one is also an autofailure because the character wouldn't have any knowledge of this area.
Like I said, made-up examples, made-up answers. But hopefully that's illustrative.
Yeah, I'd increase the probability of success (that is, more likely to grant an auto-success) if you were more specific like this.
Partly because it just makes it easier to DM, because more details make it easier to improvise: "Oh, yeah, you once read an account of a battle, in a diary of a solider attached to a patrol who was tasked with 'taming' this place, where the commanding officer assumed they didn't have ranged attacks and positioned his men accordingly, until the officer was killed by a rock. The irony of his last words made the story stick: 'We are totally safe at this dis....'"
If you are 100% convinced you understand, why do you ask the questions? I would assume that asking clarifying questions implies a recognized lack of understanding.
Yes, it does! It's why I keep trying.