Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Aug. 21, 2010)

On Nobility
We, my lords, may thank Heaven that we have something better than our brains to depend on.
   …Lord Chesterfield
 
A Modern Proverb
More important than possessing knowledge is the ability to discover the knowledge one is seeking.
 
From the Trivia File
Amphion: The son of Zeus and Antiope who, according to Greek legend, built Thebes by the music of his lute, which was so melodious that the stones danced into walls and houses of their own accord.
 
Daffy-nition
Show-off: A fellow who’s apt to be shown up in a showdown.
 
The Ubiquitous Armenian
When Mustafa Kemal decided on modernizing the Turkish alphabet, he assigned the task to an Armenian by the name of Hagop Martaian, who he later dubbed “Dil-achar” or “tongue-opener.”
 
From My Persian Dictionary
Sardár: chieftain.
Amír:  “
Sharíf:  “
Kalántar:  “  
Hárún:  “
Ílbegí:  “
Shaikh:  “
 
What’s in a Name?
Aghabekian: Turkish and Kurdish in derivation, identified as a descriptive title, agha is defined as mister or gentleman, formerly title inferior to pasha; and bek, a variant of beg, is defined as a feudal lord.

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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