Uncle Garabed’s Notebook
Ben Franklin on Humility
To be humble to superiors is duty; to equals, is courtesy; to inferiors,
nobleness.
Personally Speaking
Professor: Can anyone tell me what the greatest achievement was of the
Romans?
Student majoring in language: Learning Latin.
From the Trivia File
Marcus Gabius Apicius was a Roman gourmand of the time of Augustus and
Tiberius, whose income being reduced by his luxurious living to only ten
million sesterces, put an end to his life, to avoid the misery of being obliged
to live on a plain diet.
Mock-Latin Verse
Civile, si ergo,
Fortibus es in ero.
Nobile deus trux.
Vatis inem?
Causan dux.
Translation:
See, Willy, see ‘er go
Forty buses in a row.
No, Billy, dey is trucks.
What is in ‘em?
Cows and ducks.
(Note: It’s got to be pronounced in Classical Latin style, where [v] = [w], vowels have their “European” values, etc.)
From the Word Lab
“To blow your nose” vs. khnchel:
Notice that it takes four words in English and only one in Armenian.
What’s in a Name?
Totoventz/Totovian: Armenian in derivation, identified as a descriptive term, totov is defined as stammering, lisping; stuttering, tongue-tied.
CK Garabed
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
