The great lake debate rages on

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls …

We have ourselves a legitimate debate.

You’ll recall that about a week ago, we asked your opinions concerning the names of two local landmarks.

Geography 101.

If you take a dinner cruise from that pier next to The Coeur d’Alene Resort, what exactly is the name of that body of water you’re gliding across?

We’ve long been calling it Lake Coeur d’Alene, but then a customer went straight to the editor and said, “No, you clowns, it’s actually Coeur d’Alene Lake.”

Just a tiny change in the order of words, but it started a wholesale argument — so we turned to you, our knowledgeable readers, for some guidance.

And while we were at this thing, we also wanted to know if you refer to this area where we live as North Idaho.

Or something else.

So …

I now have a file stuffed with responses, and an idea but not a conclusion.

As they say on election night TV specials: “It’s just a little too early to call this one.”

With about 70 responses in my pocket, I CAN say that most of you seem to be good with North Idaho.

Yes, there were some dissenters, but that name breezed home with around 80 percent in agreement.

Therefore, we can quit worrying about the fact that we invented (and capitalized) a region called North Idaho.

But the lake thing is different, which is why we want more input. We’re not promising to change the newspaper style, but we do respect our readers’ thoughts on things like this.

At the moment, roughly two-thirds of the emails I’ve gotten say it’s Lake Coeur d’Alene, with that percentage growing — but there are dissenters.

A couple of people have sent “official” old maps that clearly say Coeur d’Alene Lake.

Or they rely on memories that are incredibly vivid.

FOR INSTANCE, Sharon Raye’s email was simply titled: Coeur d’Alene Lake.

“As you can see from my subject line, you know where I stand on this issue,” she wrote. “I was born in Coeur d’Alene 76 years ago and grew up in Hayden Lake and Coeur d’Alene.

“My family spent many hours at the beaches … as well as many happy times at City Park. We always went to Coeur d’Alene Lake for these outings, never to Lake Coeur d’Alene, just as we went to Hayden Lake and Fernan Lake.

“At one time, I had some Idaho road maps from the late 1940s and ’50s that showed Coeur d’Alene Lake to be the proper name.”

We began to notice a theme emerging from all these responses — just a trend, but one that made a bit of sense.

It seemed like longtime residents were more likely to agree with Sharon that Coeur d’Alene Lake was the original name of the lake.

But readers who haven’t spent such a long time in the area (and yes, some who have), just believe Lake Coeur d’Alene sounds better.

We’re used to it now, so the name has become everyday language — which actually makes it linguistically correct.

“I have always said Lake Coeur d’Alene, and think it flows off the tongue easier than the alternative,” wrote Chris Bishop from Blanchard.

Chris may have hit on our answer, actually.

It sounds better, so more people have said it over the years … and thus the lake has been “unofficially” renamed by the public.

Do you agree with that?

Does it bug you?

C’mon, we need more help.

•••

Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press.

A Brand New Day appears Wednesday through Saturday each week. Steve’s sports column runs on Tuesday.

Email: [email protected].

Twitter:@BrandNewDayCDA

Whatchacallit?

Is it Lake Coeur d’Alene or Coeur d’Alene Lake?

North Idaho, north Idaho or northern Idaho?

Email your preferences to Steve at: [email protected]