Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Sept. 27, 2014)

The Nub of the Matter

Do not seek to follow the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought.

… Matsou Basho

 

Daffy-nition

Missionary: A meddler, who has no respect for someone else’s religion.

 

From the Word Lab

Gringo: Probably more often than not, gringo is a term of contempt used to refer to foreigners, especially Americans and sometimes the British. Folklore has two versions on the origin of this word. One version says it was generated when the U.S. invaded Mexico, wearing green uniforms, and the people shouted at them, “Green Go Home.” The other says that gringo originated in Mexico during the Mexican-American War because Americans would sing the song, “Green Grow the Lilies.” As the word originated in Spain long before there was a Spanish-speaking Mexico, there is little truth to these urban legends. Although uncertain, the word gringo is likely to have come from griego, the word for Greek. As in English, Spanish uses “Greek” to mean an unintelligible language.

 

Tilt

In any argument, if the parties are both right, then something’s wrong.

 

Intemperance

There are several reasons for drinking,

And one just entered my head;

If a man cannot drink when he’s living

How the hell can he drink when he’s dead?

 

Armenian Proverb

A rose forcibly opened will not have a scent.

 

What’s in a Name?

Tatlian: Turkish in derivation, identified as a descriptive term, tatli is defined as sweet, agreeable.

CK Garabed

CK Garabed

Weekly Columnist
C.K. Garabed (a.k.a. Charles Kasbarian) has been active in the Armenian Church and Armenian community organizations all his life. As a writer and editor, he has been a keen observer of, and outspoken commentator on, political and social matters affecting Armenian Americans. He has been a regular contributor to the Armenian Reporter and the AGBU Literary Quarterly, “ARARAT.” For the last 30 years, Garabed has been a regular contributor to the Armenian Weekly. He produces a weekly column called “Uncle Garabed's Notebook,” in which he presents an assortment of tales, anecdotes, poems, riddles, and trivia; for the past 10 years, each column has contained a deconstruction of an Armenian surname. He believes his greatest accomplishment in life, and his contribution to the Armenian nation, has been the espousing of Aghavni, and the begetting of Antranig and Lucine.
CK Garabed

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1 Comment

  1. a dead man has no reason to drink, he cares less of the problems of making a livelihood
    a rose is not a rose until it blooms,a horse is not a horse until it trots, and last a donkey will always be one no matter how it tries to trot

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