# Non North American people - how many Great Lakes can you name? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2016, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129 "2016-06-23T10:00:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/21 "2016-06-23T21:38:43Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Victoria, Tanganyika, Malawi, so three off the top of my head… That’s all I could come up with as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/22 "2016-06-23T23:13:02Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > How many Dopers have memorized [_Jabberwocky_](http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html) ? (Raises hand) “Jabberwocky,” “The Walrus and the Carpenter,” “The White Knight’s Song,” the entire first fit of _The Hunting of the Snark_, and big chunks of _Phantasmagoria_. Also a bunch of Edward Lear. “The Jumblies,” “The Pobble Who Has No Toes,” and a few others. James Whitcomb Riley’s “Little Orphant Annie.” I raised two kids. Knowing poems comes in handy. Almost as good as lullabies. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/23 "2016-06-24T00:04:30Z")
And why isn’t [Lake St. Clair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_St._Clair), between Lakes Huron and Erie, considered one of the Great Lakes? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/24 "2016-06-24T00:05:50Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And why isn’t [Lake St. Clair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_St._Clair), between Lakes Huron and Erie, considered one of the Great Lakes? Because it ain’t all that great. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/25 "2016-06-24T00:18:10Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Victoria, Tanganyika, Malawi, so three off the top of my head… Ahh nuts. Missed Malawi … but got Lake Albert! I rounded out my top 5 with Baikal and the Black Sea, but this is one of those UScentric things isn’t it? Fair squeeze, I know those five shallow puddles too. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/26 "2016-06-24T00:39:35Z")
I just remember HOMES ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/27 "2016-06-24T00:51:27Z")
Well, I managed to memorize at least the opening few lines of _Snark._ This is useful because of the famous line “What I tell you three times is true”, a Carroll Classic line right up there with “It takes all the running _you_ can do, just to stay in one place.” The line was a key point in the dystopian futuristic novel _Stand on Zanzibar_ by John Brunner, 1968. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/28 "2016-06-24T00:51:48Z")
Put me down as another who can name all five thanks to the mnemonic HOMES. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/29 "2016-06-24T02:32:44Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Well, I managed to memorize at least the opening few lines of _Snark._ This is useful because of the famous line “What I tell you three times is true”, a Carroll Classic line right up there with “It takes all the running _you_ can do, just to stay in one place.” When you become a true Carrollmaniac (and I don’t advise it), nearly EVERY line is a classic, shimmering with deep mystical meaning. You get a lot of funny looks when you quote them. 95% of Americans haven’t even read the Alice books, for god’s sake. “Union is strength, but ONIONS are a weakness.” – _Phantasmagoria_ ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/30 "2016-06-24T06:53:20Z")
Croatian here. I think there are five of them. Voted two. Erie and…Ontario? Of course, I facepalmed in shame the moment I saw all the names. Aren’t they all connected, technically being one big body of water? Couldn’t name any cities except Chicago. (After googling: Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto! Damn.:smack:) ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/31 "2016-06-24T10:06:59Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Okay, next up: How many Tribes of Israel can you name? (Or, the Children of Israel, which of course means only the male children, which are mostly the same as the Tribes.) I’m not sure I’ve ever actually ever read the list of the Tribes, so I fail on that count. > [@](#): > > Or, if not that, at least name Santa’s reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, um… Lazy, Grumpy, Doofus? > [@](#): > > (I’ve memorized the names of all the U. S. presidents, in order.) Not really relevant to my life, I must admit. I could probably do all post-WW2 presidents. Let’s see. Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr, Clinton, Bush Jr, Obama? > [@](#): > > How many Dopers have memorized [_Jabberwocky_](http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html) ? Yep. And The Walrus and the Carpenter. And quite a lot of Ogden Nash. And Tom Lehrer’s “Elements”, but I still haven’t mastered Weird Al’s “Hardware Store”. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/32 "2016-06-24T10:12:39Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > 99% of North Americans cannot name the five largest lakes of North America. The top eight are: > > Superior > Huron > Michigan > Great Bear > Great Slave > Erie > Winnipeg > Ontario > > The Great Lakes are numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8. > > There are probably more non-Americans who know that, than Americans. Okay… geographical failure on this front. I didn’t know Lake Winnipeg was up there, and I’d never heard of Great Slave. :smack: > [@Moris](#): > > Croatian here. I think there are five of them. Voted two. Erie and…Ontario? Of course, I facepalmed in shame the moment I saw all the names. > > **Aren’t they all connected, technically being one big body of water?** > > Couldn’t name any cities except Chicago. (After googling: Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto! Damn.:smack:) Isn’t that a bit like saying all oceans are one big body of water? 🙂 Distinctions are both artificial and useful. I think the definition of what constitutes a single lake is whether the water level is the same across the entire surface, which it clearly isn’t true for all the Great Lakes, as this wonderful image from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes#/media/File:Great_Lakes.svg) shows. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/33 "2016-06-24T10:24:11Z")
Yes, except for Huron / Michigan, there is a river / drop in elevation between the lakes. The drop off is big enough to require locks (except Huron \<- St Clair -\> Erie) for navigation. Niagara Falls being the most famous drop off. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/34 "2016-06-24T12:20:46Z")
Do Texans count? I got all of them except Lake Huron. And I’ve always had severe Lake Envy. Even for the “little” ones like the Finger Lakes in beautiful New York State. Every lake in Texas is a dammed up river. Except for [Caddo Lake](http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/caddo-lake) on the Louisiana Border–which is the bald cypress & gator sort of lake. Nothing like the deep cool waters of the glacier carved Northern lakes… ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/35 "2016-06-24T13:04:43Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And why isn’t [Lake St. Clair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_St._Clair), between Lakes Huron and Erie, considered one of the Great Lakes? I basically live right on Lake St. Clair. It’s a _duck pond_ compared to the others. I occasionally ride up Jefferson then around the thumb. St. Clair is greenish, with a brown tint in the shallower areas. When I get past Port Huron, Lake Huron is a wonderful blue. Oh, and the temperature drops 10 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/36 "2016-06-24T13:21:17Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > And I’ve always had severe Lake Envy. Even for the “little” ones like the Finger Lakes in beautiful New York State. Heh. Other than Lake Tahoe and Crater Lake, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake probably are the most voluminous non-Great lakes in the US. But even New York’s tiny slice of Lake Erie (not to mention Ontario) probably dwarfs them in volume even though Lake Erie is shallower. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/37 "2016-06-24T13:31:03Z")
I could name all of them without really having to think. No idea why I should but I loved looking through the massive Reader’s Digest World Atlas that my family had when I was a kid. And I am a big fan of _Lord Huron_. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/38 "2016-06-24T14:11:30Z")
I once knew most of the S370 opcodes in hex. :smack: > [@Senegoid](#): > > (I’ve memorized the names of all the U. S. presidents, in order.) George and John and Tommy J. Two Jims, John Q, and Old Hickory A. Marty, Willy, Johnny, and James. Zachary and Millard (how 'bout those names?) Frank and Jim led to Abraham’s Days; Then Andrew, Ulysses, and R.B. Hayes. James and Chester, Grover and Ben. Now don’t forget we had Grover again. Willy Mac, Teddy, and a man named Taft then Woody, Warren, and Calvin the Daft. Herbie, Frankie, Harry and Ike; John, Lyndon, Dick (called Tricky if you like); Gerry, Jimmy, Ronnie and George; Then came(!) Bill, then another George. After that it was time for Barack; Then - oh no, watch out! - Gack gack! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/39 "2016-06-24T15:25:23Z")
> [@Moris](#): > > Croatian here. I think there are five of them. Voted two. Erie and…Ontario? Of course, I facepalmed in shame the moment I saw all the names. > > Aren’t they all connected, technically being one big body of water? Not really. They are connected, mostly, by rivers, and so are considered different lakes (exception coming below.) Superior is at an elevation of approximately 600 feet, and flows by the St. Marys River (no apostrophe) into Lake Huron. Huron and Michigan are at about 575 feet, and flow via the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit River into Lake Erie, which is only 5-10 feet below them. Erie then flows via the Niagara into Ontario, which is at 243 feet - that rather significant drop can be spectacularly observed at, of course, Niagara Falls. Ontario flows via the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The only two that can be considered the same body of water at Huron and Michigan, which are at the same elevation and connected by a strait, not a river. That said, if you just look at a map it’s clear why they are generally considered different lakes. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129/40 "2016-06-24T16:04:36Z")
Sam, my horse, eats oats. > [@Senegoid](#): > > How many Dopers have memorized [_Jabberwocky_](http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html) ? I know at least one has 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-north-american-people-how-many-great-lakes-can-you-name/758129.md?page=3)