Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Oct. 18, 2014)

A Timely Tip

Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Don’t overdo it.

…Lao-Tsze

Plain and Fancy

Mary wears her hair down.

Marie wears her hair up.

From the Word Lab

Jingo: A corruption of Jainko, the Basque Supreme Being. “By Jingo!” or “By the living Jingo!” is an appeal to deity. Edward I had Basque mountaineers conveyed to England to take part in his Welsh wars, and the Plantagenets held the Basque provinces in possession. This Basque oath is a landmark of these facts.

Words, Words, Words

Is “taking the bull by the horns” the equivalent of “throwing the bull”?

Armenians in Fiction

Josian was the daughter of the king of Armenia, and wife of Sir Bevis of Southampton. It was she who gave the hero his sword “Morglay” and his steed “Arundel.”

… Drayton: Polyolbion (1612)

From My Persian Dictionary

Jahannam: hell

Bakkál: herbalist

Pahlaván: hero

Bahádur: heroic

What’s in a Name?

GOOMRIGian: Persian in derivation, identified as a descriptive term, goomrig, diminutive of gulamir, is defined as rose prince. If Turkish in derivation, identified either as a descriptive term, or an occupation. As a descriptive term, goomrig is a variant of koomrig, diminutive of kumru, a turtle-dove. As an occupation, goomrig is a variant of gumruk, a customs official.

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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.

Latest posts by CK Garabed (see all)

• A Reminiscence: John Najarian - February 19, 2020
• Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Aug. 5, 2017) - August 7, 2017
• Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (July 22, 2017) - July 22, 2017