Talk:Velikiye Luki

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[edit] Translation of City's Name

I deleted the sentence about the city's name being translated as "the great meanders."  Although this is technically possible (лука = bend, meander), the city's flag and coat of arms give us an important clue as to what the луки in the city's name are.  The flag and coat of arms (can be seen on the Russian page for Belikie Luki) feature three bows (лук = bow), so really, the name most likely means "grand bows" or "great bows." — John 14:14, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Did you see that the Russian page also gives an etymology for the name? Either meanders or from a Novgorod guy called "Luka". English is not the only language in which "bow" is ambiguous (eg Dutch "boog" can also mean either bend or the weapon). So, the coat of arms is presumably just a word play on two words which are etymologically connected. Well, they could have done worse. They could have taken a leek (like Wales) or a saddle. Have a look at this on-line dictionary of Russian: ЛУК, ЛУК and ЛУКА--Pan Gerwazy 09:23, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I second that. According to my toponymic dictionary, "the great meanedrs" is currently considered to be the most solid explanation.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 13:31, 6 March 2007 (UTC)