Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Jan. 21, 2017)

A Modern Aphorism

Weakness of character is often mistaken for modesty.

Freudian Slip

A district attorney with a reputation for badgering witnesses gave everyone in court a big laugh when he said to the judge, “The persecution rests.”

Russian Proverb

A kind word is better than a big pie.

From the Armenian Herbalist

The black seeds that Armenians use in Cheoreg and Tel Banir were often referred to by many people as Black Caraway seeds. However, it seems that the term is a misnomer. Using Armenag Bedevian’s Polyglottal Dictionary of Plant Names as a guide, we have listed the official name of the seed in eight different languages, as follows:

Latin: Nigella sativa

Arabic: Hhabbah sawda’, Hhabbet el barakah, Kamun aswad, Shuniz

Armenian: Arjntegh, Sonij, Sev sonij, Shoniz, Sev hndig, Sev kndig

English: Black cumin, Common fennel flower

French: Nigelle, Nielle, Toute epice, Cumin noir, Araignee, Quatre epices

German: Echter schwarzkummel

Italian: Nigella, Gittaione, Cuminella, Erba spezie, Melanzio domestico

Turkish: Coreg otu, Karamuk, Sehniz

A Pungent Expression

“He doesn’t have his head screwed on right!”

From My Persian Dictionary

Arak: spirits (liquor)

Kúchik: little (small)

Jigar: liver

Haml: load

What’s in a Name?

Simsarian: Arabic in derivation, current in Turkish, simsar is defined as broker; middleman; commission agent.

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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