Habibi House – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)
Before Al Gore invented the internet, it wasn’t easy for logophiles (lovers of words) like me to figure out what some words meant. “Lover of words,” in my case was an understatement. I was obsessed about learning every new word–its etymology (origin, definition and context, even what it used to mean) I came across. It’s a wonder my parents (both educators) didn’t put this precocious, pedantic child up for adoption. Dictionaries were of little help as their content was mostly limited to English words. The Velazquez dictionary was helpful when I wanted to learn a new Spanish word, but that, too, was limiting. Alas, no comprehensive resource seemed to exist to sate my curiosity. Here’s an example of my dilemma. The popular 60’s television show I Dream of Jeanie was replete with Arabic words. For most people being entertained was enough, but not for me. When a new word was used, I wanted to know what it meant–even if it was a proper name. Jeanie’s master (played by the altitudinous Ted Cassidy) was named Habib. No source or person of my acquaintance had any idea what “Habib” meant. Surely, when Jeanie’s master’s parents named their son Habib, it was because the…
