"Lido" is a somewhat literary noun in
Italian, meaning "shore", or "sand bar", "beach." The Lido island reef bordering the
lagoon of Venice was the site of a well-known
resort, and "lido" passed into several European languages as a word for a
fashionable resort or
swimming area. Though few people know the origin of the word, it still seems to be associated with
leisure activities the world over. There is a Grand Lido chain of
Caribbean luxury hotels; a Sandford Parks Lido pool complex in
Cheltenham,
England; a Ruislip Lido Railway in northwest
London, apparently named after the reservoir it borders which used to be popular swimming area; a Centro Lido hotel in
Caracas,
Venezuela; a Lido Hotel &
Health Spa in
Miami,
Florida; a
Swedish music publishing company ; a
Belgian Best Western Hotel Lido; a Dutch
restaurant/
waterskiiing center; a Dutch
dance club called City Lido in the city of
Groenlo; a Hotel Lido in
Geneva,
Switzerland; and a Lido
Key off the coast of
Sarasota,
Florida. A theatre in
Paris is named "Le Lido," and its web page says that its original interior design was based on that of the Lido in Venice.
Denmark and
India also have independent Lido Theatres. And that's just the web sites I found in English or some language I could puzzle out a few words from!
Perhaps the oddest Lido is a project of Lee Iacocca's with Western Golf Car: a "neighborhood electric vehicle" meant for short trips and errand running on roads where the posted speed limit is 35 mph or less. Iacocca says it was "designed to be more versatile than a golf cart, more practical than a car, while helping to clean up the environment and improve our quality of life." It's available as a coupe, sedan, or runabout, goes up to 25 miles per hour, and has a 40-mile range before needing recharging (which takes 4-6 hours). It has a lot of the features of a standard gasoline-fueled car, but the list of dealers contains locations in only 11 U.S. states and many of the dealers seem to specialize in golf carts rather than more vehicles with a more wide range of uses.
Sources:
http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives/0502
http://wordsmith.org/awad/awadmail80.html
http://www.superclubs.com/brand_grandlido/
http://www.g8pzd.demon.co.uk
http://rlr.topcities.com
http://www.hotelcentrolido.com
http://www.lidospa.com
http://www.lidomusic.com
http://www.lido.be
http://www.lido-almere.nl
http://www.citylido.nl
http://www.hotel-lido.ch
http://www.lido.fr
http://www.lido.dk
http://www.lidotheatre.com
http://www.lidomotors.com/