10 words to take from the vocabulary of Shashi Tharoor

2 months ago 129

Jan 31, 2025

Aakanksha Sharma

Words to pick

Shashi Tharoor, a brilliant author and politician, is often referred to as the ‘Modern Shakespeare’. He is famous for his speeches, the words he uses, and the way he introduces people to new, complicated words. Here are some words and phrases from his speeches and tweets.

shashitharoor/Instagram

All Hat, No Cattle

A phrase used in his famous speech in Britain, ‘All hat, No cattle’ refers to someone who makes big claims but has no real evidence to support it. For example, ‘His speech was impressive, but honestly, it was all hat no cattle’.

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Lalochezia

Ever been so tired of the constant arguments and waiting that you decide to abuse the other person because you feel stuck in the loop? Well, that is Lalochezia. For example, ‘After 10 minutes of worthless argument, Shiva gave in to lalochezia and shouted in frustration.’

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Convolution

Once used by Shashi Tharoor in a tweet praising author Chetan Bhagat, ‘Convolution’ refers to something that is complex and difficult to understand. For example, ‘The document you sent yesterday was filled with convolutions.’

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Exasperating

One of his most famous words that is rather simple to use in everyday conversations is this one. Exasperating refers to a situation, someone, or something that is extremely annoying and frustrating.

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Farrago

‘Farrago’ refers to a confused mixture and mish-mash of things. To describe a situation as chaotic, you can say that it is a ‘Farrago’. For example, ‘That debate yesterday turned into a farrago of arguments.’

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Snollygoster

A word used to define a person and his or her personality is ‘Snollygoster’. A Snollygoster is a shrewd and selfish person, and the word is usually used for politicians. For example, ‘That minister is nothing more than a Snollygoster, I won’t vote for him.’

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Quomodocunquize

An old-fashioned word that has mostly gone obsolete is ‘Quomodocunquize’. This refers to making money in any possible way, often unethical to make a quick profit.

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Onerous

Onerous is a word that is used to describe a certain task or action. It means something is burdensome and difficult to do. For example, ‘The new tax regulations are onerous, half the public cannot understand them!’

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Rapacious

Another word that is used to describe a certain person or personality is ‘Rapacious’. A rapacious person is greedy and always wants to acquire more. For example, ‘Sunil was such a rapacious man, clinging onto the last morsels.’

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Floccinaucinihilipilification

One of the most famous and the most difficult to pronounce words used by Tharoor is this one. Floccinaucinihilipilification is the habit of regarding something as unimportant, worthless, and insignificant.

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