Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (May 12, 2012)

Inadvertent Flattery

A good listener is usually thinking about something else.

… Kin Hubbard

From the Word Lab

The word barbarian evolved from the Greek word “barbarous.” It came from the fact that Greeks could not understand foreigners and when they spoke it sounded like “bar-bar.”

Optimism

From the day of your birth

‘Til you ride in a hearse

There’s nothing that’s happened

That couldn’t have been worse.

Stolen Genes

The Turks abducted Armenian maidens and forced them into their harems. Thus, their progeny were gifted with Armenian genes. That’s why whenever you see a Turk who is intelligent, talented, or good-looking, you are viewing an Armenian masquerading as a Turk.

The Whole Story

Edo: How did it go with your visit to the doctor?

Bedo: His exact words were, “You’re in pretty good shape.”’

Edo: That’s great!

Bedo: But then he added, “for the shape you’re in.”

A Toast

“Virtue in the middle,” said the Devil, as he seated himself between two editors.

What’s in a Name?

Totoventz/Totovian: Armenian in derivation, identified as a descriptive term, totov describes one who speaks with a stammer or lisp.

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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