Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (June 25, 2011)

Irish Proverb

It is better to be a coward for a minute than dead for the rest of your life.

From the Trivia File

Nour-jehan was the widow of Shere Afgun. Her name was “Mher ul Nissa” (the sun of women). Selim slew Shere Afgun in order to gain possession of Nour-jehan, as David morally slew Uriah the Hittite in order to make Bathsheba his wife. In both cases the woman was but too willing to pander to royal lust.

—Percy: Anecdotes, p. 246

Told With Levity

And then there was the astronaut who sought out a famous novelist at a cocktail party and told him, “I read your new book while I was in orbit last week, and couldn’t put it down.”

From My Persian Dictionary

Tarbiyat: culture

Kásah: cup, large teacup

Finján: cup (tea, coffee)

Gumbad: cupola

The Good Old Days

Edo: I just returned from a tour of the European continent. What a wonderful city Paris is! If only I could have gone 20 years earlier.

Bedo: You mean when Paris was really Paris?

Edo: No, I mean when Edo was really Edo.

What’s in a Name?

Kuftejian: Turkish in derivation, identified as a trade, a köfteji is someone who makes/sells (stuffed) meatballs.

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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