Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Aug. 20, 2011)

From the Word Lab

Serendipity: A word coined by Horace Walpole. In a Jan. 28, 1754 letter to Horace Mann, he said he formed it from the Persian fairytale “The Three Princes of Serendip,” whose heroes “were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of.” The name is from Serendip, an old name for Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), from Arabic Sarandib, from Skt. Simhaladvipa’s “Dwelling-Place-of-Lions Island.”

Legend: When Adam and Eve were cast down from paradise, Adam fell on the isle of Serendib, and Eve near Jeddah in Arabia. After the lapse of 200 years, Adam rejoined Eve, and they lived in Ceylon.

From the Trivia File

The story told by the Antient Concert concerns itself with the 1904 Feis Ceoil competition recital on Aug. 27, 1904 in the Antient Concert Rooms in Dublin, Ireland. Legend has it that John McCormack and James Joyce competed that night in the tenor singing competition. There is no documentary evidence of this; however, Joyce did win the bronze medal that year (it is said that he did not agree with the stipulation that competitors demonstrate their musicianship by doing some sight-reading, and left the stage). Many believe that it was McCormack’s 1903 win of the gold medal that launched his career.

Dikran’s Law

There’s a 50-50 chance that someone will print the name Drikan incorrectly.

…Dirkan

Hollywood Hype

Silent screen idol, Rudolph Valentino, didn’t die as they say he did. The truth is, he stage-managed his demise when he realized he was washed up as a cinematic lover. Then, with the introduction of the talkies, he took singing lessons, and made a comeback as Rudy Vallee.

What’s in a Name?

Zohrabian/Surabian: Persian in derivation, identified as a descriptive term, zohrab, surab, and srab are defined as glaring or shining with red. See legend of Sohrab and Rustum. Also, Srab is short for Srabion, a Greek-Egyptian god.

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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