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Meaning of "creek"

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Reworded and wikilinked the statement that Dubai Creek is "not truly a creek but an inlet". The wikilinks should show well enough that the word "creek" means inlet as well as stream. But just to reinforce the point I looked the word "creek" up in the OED. The very first definition given is this:

I. 1. a. A narrow recess or inlet in the coast-line of the sea, or the tidal estuary of a river; an armlet of the sea which runs inland in a comparatively narrow channel and offers facilities for harbouring and unloading smaller ships.

I don't know who gave Dubai Creek the English word "creek", but I would guess it was more likely someone British rather than American. Pfly (talk) 04:35, 1 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I assume that it was a Briton that gave it the name "creek." But, I am not truly sure. In Arabic, Dubai Creek is known as Khor Dubai. I am not sure if khor means "creek" or if it means something else. I left a message on the talk page of User:AreJay, who would probably know about this. Leitmanp (talk | contributions) 22:50, 1 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, I'm not quite sure about the origin of the word "creek" in the context of Dubai, but it would almost certainly have British origins, since the Trucial States (of which Dubai was part) were protected and administered by Great Britian. Also, the word "khor" is Arabic for "creek". I do have one question about the language in the article though, where it says that it's not truly a creek, but an inlet....can someone explain the difference? According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a creek is "a small inlet in a shoreline, extending farther inland than a cove." [1]. Isn't that what the Dubai Creek essentially is? I don't think I fully understand the difference and would be grateful if someone could explain. @ Leitmanp, I agree that the article needs some work...I do have a few good sources and will work on improving the article. Meanwhile, I'm not sure if you've come across this website before...very informative...it also has a great little section about the creek as well...[2]. Thanks AreJay (talk) 03:18, 2 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi AreJay, as I understand it the two senses of the word "creek" differ in that one is a small saltwater inlet of the sea, the other is a freshwater stream like a river, but usually smaller. In the US the second sense is the norm and the first sense is almost unheard of, while in the UK it is the other way around, I think. Dubai Creek, if I understand right, is a saltwater inlet with no freshwater streams of any size flowing into it. So to an American it may sound strange to call it a creek at all, perhaps leading to saying it isn't "truly a creek", although a dictionary check would show the different senses. I don't know Arabic, but I wonder whether "khor" means both either "saltwater inlet" and "small freshwater stream". I'd guess there isn't a perfect translation between the words.
This is just a minor point of interest for me, since I had never heard of the inlet sense of "creek" until I read about how placenames in the United States came to be. Apparently the freshwater stream sense developed in colonial Virginia as English colonists explored up the tidal inlets of Virginia and found long streams flowing into them. The term "creek", applied to the tidal inlet part, was continued up the freshwater stream part. Over time American usage came to mean freshwater streams of any kind and not tidal inlets at all. Perhaps this article's bit about "not truly a creek" was added by an American unaware of the British sense. I tried to edit it to make it clear that there are two senses, especially for Americans who may not have heard of the seawater inlet sense. And yes, I am a toponymy geek. Pfly (talk) 04:16, 2 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Pfly, to me "creek" means a small, freshwater stream. And I was the original writer of that sentence. Since I know that Dubai Creek is not a small, freshwater stream I made sure I specified it as such. Thanks for pointing out that the word has a different usage in British English. Leitmanp (talk | contributions) 20:01, 3 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, Pfly. Maybe we can qualify the sentence and say something like "The Dubai Creek, also known as Khor Dubai, is a saltwater creek in Dubai, United Arab Emirates". I don't know if that would make it more understandable. Like you suggest, there probably isn't a perfect translation of the word "khor", but I think the word would probably refer to a saltwater inlet (rather than a freshwater stream) almost evertime, given that there aren't too many freshwater streams in that part of the world :) Thanks AreJay (talk) 05:47, 2 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Saltwater creek sounds fine to me. I'm not invested in this article, so do whatever seems best. I'm not even sure how I stumbled across it! Pfly (talk) 06:04, 2 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, AreJay. Your modifications to the sentence is the best way to describe Dubai Creek. Leitmanp (talk | contributions) 20:01, 3 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
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