Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Sept. 12, 2009)

From the Trivia File
“Moron” was coined in 1910 by psychologist Henry H. Goddard from the Greek word moros, which meant “dull” (as opposed to “sharp”), and used to describe a person with a mental age located between 8 and 12 on the Binet scale. It was once applied to people with an IQ of 51-70, being superior in one degree to “imbecile” (IQ of 26-50) and superior in two degrees to “idiot” (IQ of 0-25). The word “moron,” along with others including “retarded,” “idiotic,” “imbecilic,” “stupid,” and “feeble-minded,” was formerly considered a valid descriptor in the psychological community, but it is now deprecated by psychologists.

So Much for Learning
A goose flies by a chart which the Royal Geographic Society could not mend.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes

Famous Quotes
To get 50 people to a cocktail party in New York, you have to invite 100. In Hollywood, you invite 20.
—Elsa Maxwell

Imposition
People with time to spare usually spend it with those who haven’t.

From the Word Lab
Amousin: In Armenian, generally used to denote husband. It is, however, a synonym for spouse, and therefore can be used to denote husband or wife.

Turning the Tables
Edo: Boy, that Hrach is so irresponsible. He’s always broke.
Bedo: Tried to borrow some money from you, eh?
Edo: No, I tried to borrow money from him.

What’s in a Name?
Chanakjian: Turkish in derivation, identified as a trade, a chanakji is defined as a potter. The Armenian equivalent is Proudian.

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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