Talk:Lake Geneva

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Contents

[edit] Nomenclature

In French, the lake is sometimes, perhaps most frequently, called Lac Léman. (And in German, Genfersee).
S.

Yes, That is true even for the population of Geneva. It is very rare to hear lac de Genève in Geneva. /Popup 12:47, 2004 Feb 5 (UTC)
Completely agree! Moved from Lake Geneva to Leman Lake (according to the original Roman name of the lake). -- Quattrop ~16:00, 03 Aug 2005 (SGT)

[edit] Recent move from "Lake Geneva" to "Leman Lake"

This move should be undone. The lake is indeed usually called "lac Léman" in French, but the overwhelming majority of English usage is "Lake Geneva". Google supports that assertion: "Leman Lake" 5550 vs. "Lake Geneva" 648,000 or 884 vs. 187,000 if you add "Switzerland" to the query. Rl 10:39, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

Done. -- User:docu

[edit] Geneva citizen

Lac Léman is used only by French people (to remember us that a small corner belong to France) and frustrated minor towns around Lake Geneva, they can't stand this name "Lac de Genève". I'm a Geneva citizen, you can belive me, we call it Lac de Genève or simply "le Lac".

  • Wow, this is nicely POV. It would be more correct to say that Lac Léman is the official name in French (and therfore used by every French speaker, excpet ---as the above comment seems to demonstrate--- by a some inhabitants from Geneva who think they are the center of the world). However, it is true, that in english the name Lake Geneva is much more common. As this is the English Wikipedia, the article should be named Lake Geneva

Resident of Montreux syas: Actually Lac Leman is not used by frustrated 'French' on the south shore. The rest of the lake is surrounded by French speaking Swiss who prefer use 'Lac Leman'. The Swiss of the region do not like the term Lake Geneva since it suggests the lake is an extension of Geneva, when actually Geneva is at the very end of the lake as it runs into the Rhone river. Swiss in Lausanne, Vevey, Montreux and all towns feel offended when thelake is assigned as the property of Geneva. Lac Leman is the correct name.

I am a Geneva citizen too. I usually call the lake Leman "Lake geneva". However, I and every one knows it is in fact called lake Leman. Only people from Geneva call it the lake Geneva. As a Scuba diver I see many people from around the lake (of whom people from Geneva is just a minority), and it is true they feel ofended when people from Geneva call it Lake Geneva. I suppose english people erroneously believe it is called lake Geneva because of the international status of Geneva: thus english speaking people mostly meet people from Geneva which are the only people using the unofficial name "lake Geneva". Do what you want with this, but it is a fact that 1) The official name is Lake Leman 2) Only in Geneva is it called lake Geneva (and every one knows it is not the official name)

3) I would say in Geneva people call it lake Geneva and lake Leman 50% of the time... In views of these facts, the page needs to mention this naming ambiguity. --Powo 00:16, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I live in a small minor town around the lake, I use 50% each "lac de Geneve" and "lac leman". So what's the problem? :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.62.36.98 (talk) 01:56, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] French TV

On french TV the name of lake Geneva is as well used. But "lac léman" is more right. I live in Geneva as well and my friend and me say lac léman... --195.65.51.14 18:48, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Swiss map

I think you will find that the official (Swiss) name in French is "Le Léman". That name is used as the title for sheet #40 of the Swiss National Map (1:100.000 series: http://www.swisstopo.ch/en/products/analog/maps/tk100), and many other references can be found here: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9man_%28homonymie%29. I agree with others below that the lake is popularly referred to by the Swiss as "Lac Léman". I've lived in Geneva for 30 years and never heard "Lac de Genève", although there are so many new arrivals, foreigners and tourists that anything goes... You will also hear local English speakers say "the Léman" 62.203.65.11 17:37, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Original name

As a true local, born and educated in Geneva, i can affirm that "Lake Geneva" or "Lac de Genève" is considered and *error*; this name is mostly used if you want to piss off people from Lausanne (call it "le petit village de pêcheurs au bord du lac de Genève") ;P otherwise, the correct name is Leman Lake (or Lake Léman, whichever..) and it is the name that has been used looooong before the erroneous "Lake Geneva" was introduced (if I recall correctly, originally to describe the lower, thin portion of the lake near Geneva). Even though a vast amount of people uses the incorrect name "Lake Geneva", the correct and official name is "Leman Lake" and the article should be moved to "Leman Lake". ---- Konrad-EN (talk) 08:39, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] fish?

Are thre fish in it again? are they safe to eat? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.206.165.20 (talk) 01:29, 29 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one article was rated and this bot brought all the other ratings up to at least that level. BetacommandBot 04:36, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Surface Area Comparison to Lake Balaton

It seems that there are contradicting assertions for both Lake Leman and Lake Balaton in Hungary. Both claim to be the largest lake in Central Europe, but the surface area clearly indicates Balaton is the largest (making Leman the second largest). A quick survey of several sites seem to confirm this, although the surface areas for Balaton seem to differ slightly. Any reason why the comment on the largest lake in C.E. should remain for lake Leman? --mexicatl 16:41, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

  • Ignore above comment, I was looking at an older version of the page. --mexicatl 16:44, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was withdrawn. JPG-GR (talk) 02:54, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

This idea has been kicking around for a long time, but to my knowledge has never been subjected to formal review (if I am wrong, please let me know). Please give your opinions below. Sincerely, GeorgeLouis (talk) 16:24, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

  • Move. The accepted name in both France and Switzerland is Léman. One source is at http://www.unil.ch/bcu/page40975.html. There are others. It should be Lake Léman, and not Léman Lake, in the style of Lake Louise or Lake Champlain. Sincerely, GeorgeLouis (talk) 16:24, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
Withdraw. Based on the references below from the Encylopedia Britannica and Encarta, I agree that the title should remain Lake Geneva. Yours, GeorgeLouis (talk) 01:27, 19 April 2008 (UTC)
  • Weak Oppose I personally call it Lac Léman, but I have to acknowledge that its common name appears to be Lake Geneva in English language (Search results are overwhelming infavour of "Lake Geneva" over "Lake Léman", even if you add in "Léman Lake" results.) Narson (talk) 17:45, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
  • Oppose. English sources use Geneva: Lake Geneva at Britannica, Lake Geneva at Encarta, and our own naming convention in this is Wikipedia:Use English. "Accepted name in France and Switzerland" is irrelevant. French Wikipedians have not anglicised all the "Lacs" in Catégorie:Grands Lacs (Amérique du Nord), and nor should they. 14days (talk) 19:06, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
That first reference goes to a different Lake Geneva. Sincerely, GeorgeLouis (talk) 19:35, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
Found the correct article on Britannica. They still use Lake Geneva though. Narson (talk) 19:42, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
  • Oppose per the arguments at WP:Official names. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 00:54, 19 April 2008 (UTC)
  • Oppose It's overwhelmingly called Lake Geneva in English-language publications. Some people might think that it should be called Lake Léman - but it's not up to Wikipedia to change scholarship. Noel S McFerran (talk) 01:29, 19 April 2008 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.