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Please stop calling it "Lake Geneva", its name is "Lake Léman".
by vhf 14y ago
Please stop calling it "Lake Geneva", its name is "Lake Léman".
- ableal 14y agoCuriously, I can't get Google maps to show a name for the lake, unlike several other Swiss and Italian lakes in that zone. May be the reason.
- arrrg 14y agoWhy? Both seem to be used, with Lake Geneva being used more commonly. Are there good reasons for preferring one over the other?
- vhf 14y agoI think there are good reasons to prefer "Lake Léman". The lake is split between France and French-speaking part of Switzerland. In French, the name is Léman. I do think using the local name is better, even more when this local name is acknowledged (en.wikipedia shows both Geneva and Léman). To me, born and raised in Romandy, "Lake Geneva" feels like "Tokyo Country" for Japan or "California Ocean" for the Pacific.
- whyenot 14y agoAs is true of many place names in Switzerland, it doesn't have one single name. Lake Léman = Lac Léman = Genfersee = Lake Geneva There is nothing wrong with the title of the Nature paper: Giant Lake Geneva tsunami in AD 563