Apendi (Afandi) is the Kyrgyz variant of "Nasrettin Hoca," the famous Turkish hero of anecdotes and jokes, who is also known in Central Asia as Apandi (Uzbek) or Avanti (Neo-Uyghur). Unlike the populations of other regions, which favoured the religious title "Hoca" (in Turkey, as well as among Serbs Croats, and Hungarians), or "Joha" ( Juḥa), the metathesis of the former (in the Arab world; "Djahan" in Malta), Central Asians chose the term of civility efendi , which is derived from the Greek authentikos and is rich in connotations. Beyond acquired