Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (July 22, 2017)

Armenian Proverb

Don’t buy a house, buy a neighbor.

Don’t Tell a Lie

She sat in a hammock and strummed her guitar.
He sat down beside her and smoked his cigar.
He told her he loved her and oh, how he lied
She told him she loved him but she didn’t lie.
They were to be married but she up and died.
He went to the funeral but just for the ride.
She went straight to heaven and flip-flap she flied.
He went to the hot spot and pf-ft he fried.
The moral to this tale is “Don’t Tell a Lie.”

Rara Avis

A great man is one who, when confronted with contrary facts, is willing
to change his mind.

Worldly Friends

When I see (says Warwick in his “Spare Minutes”) leaves drop from their trees in the beginning of autumn, just such, think I, is the friendship of the world. While the sap of maintenance lasts, my friends swarm in abundance; but, in the winter of my need, they leave me naked. He is a happy man, that hath a true friend at his need; but he is more truly happy, that hath no need of his friend.

Qualifications for a Good Secretary

She must look like a girl, think like a man, act like a lady, and work like a dog.

What’s in a Name?

Terlemezian: Turkish in derivation, identified as a descriptive term, terlemez is literally defined as “does not sweat.”

However, Arpi Haroutunian, Dajad Terlemezian’s granddaughter, informs us  that her grandfather explained to her how the name came about. His ancestors from Van were advisers to royalty, and the symbol of their sagacity was the long hair that they displayed. Thus they were referred to as talamazi,  which, it is conjectured was a truncation of talarmazi, where talar, in Armenian,  is defined as verdant, and maz as hair.

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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