Uncle Garabed’s Notebook

From A Tramp Abroad

It seems that the heavy work in the quarries and the new railway gradings [in Germany] is done mainly by Italians. That was a revelation. We have the notion in our country that Italians never do heavy work at all, but confine themselves to the lighter arts, like organ-grinding, operatic singing, and assassination.
… Mark Twain
 
From the Word Lab

Apron: (O.Fr. napperon) Originally napron in English, this word is representative of a considerable number that have either lost or gained an “n” through coalescence—or the reverse—with the article “a” or “an.”
 
A Toast

Here’s to our good fortune—may we leave more when we die and spend more while we live than we inherited when we were born.
 
Good Deed

The teacher asked her very young students to describe any acts of kindness they may have shown dumb animals. After hearing several heartwarming narratives, she turned to little Hratch and asked him if he had done anything. He replied proudly, “I once kicked a boy for kicking his dog.”
 
Can’t Win

Edo: You think Mnjo will ever get married?
Bedo: No. It seems that every time he brings home a girl, his mother disapproves. I tried telling him to find a girl like his mother, so that then she was bound to like the girl.
Edo: Did he take your advice?
Bedo: Yes, he did. He found a girl who looked just like his mother; talked like her and even cooked like her.
Edo: So, what happened?
Bedo: His father hated her!
 
What’s in a Name?

Baghdasarian: Derived from Assyrian name Balthasar, biblically, protector of the king; name of one of the three magi.

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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