Shashi Tharoor and his ‘Tharoorian English’ need no introduction. In fact, it’s gotten to a point where every time he tweets something, I automatically reach for a dictionary. I mean, the man initiated to us to words like troglodytes and farrago. And his vocabulary seems to be inexhaustible.
Yep! The maestro of words is back to educating us mere mortals again.
Tharoor took to Twitter to share a ‘word of the day’ and lucky for us, he actually provided a definition this time.
Word of the Day: From The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows:
moledro:
a feeling of resonant connection with an author or artist you’ll never meet, who may have lived centuries ago & thousands of miles away but can still get inside your head & leave behind morsels of their experience— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) March 25, 2018
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a website run by John Koenig. He comes up with new words or expressions that define emotions and feelings that cannot be generally described.
Tharoor’s Twitter followers loved his word of the day and pitched in by sharing the names of the writers who have given them the feeling of moledro through their writings.
1. The British playwright Somerset Maugham.
Somerset Maugham for example 😃
— Jaini /উজ্জয়িনী/ اجینی (@IchbinUjjaini) March 26, 2018
2. Percy Shelley and his “The Indian Serenade”
👉Percy Bysshe Shelley ❤❤❤❤
"Oh lift me from the grass!
I die! I faint! I fail!
Let thy love in kisses rain
On my lips and eyelids pale.
My cheek is cold and white, alas!
My heart beats loud and fast;—
Oh! press it to thine own again,
Where it will break at last." pic.twitter.com/78UHG2lONq— Bose Shruti (@Tinni_Aphrodite) March 26, 2018
3. When there’s too many to choose from.
Sir Francis Bacon and D H Lawrence and I can go on🙏🙏 Back home Munshi Premchand , O V Vijayan , and Mahakavi Changampuzha . Yes Ghalib and Firaq Ghorakhpiri too🙏🙏🙏🙏.
— Shashi Menon (@cherukote) March 25, 2018
4. The South African Novelist Wilbur Smith.
Wilbur Smith has done moledro to me then 😊
— Mirza Ghalib (@jabalraj) March 26, 2018
5. The classic.
Tolstoy in "Anna Karenina" did that to me!
— Ruminess (@rumiesque) March 26, 2018
6. Jane Austen has got to be one of my favourites too.
Moledro is a very maudlin thought early Monday morning ……closest I could connect would be Jane Austin , Emily Bronte , Charles Dickens ….
— Gayathri Pradeep (@gayathripradeep) March 26, 2018
7. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy!
Always felt moledro with Douglas Adams!
— Dinesh (@DineshPoduval) March 26, 2018
8. The alchemist himself.
https://twitter.com/rambo1897/status/978142618663010304
Apart from their moledro mentions, the Twitter folk had some rather amusing tweets as well.
1. I know right!
One such word every night, our vocab will definitely improve…😆
— A_man (@oye___man) March 25, 2018
2. LOL
https://twitter.com/ihiteshnagila/status/978004911018381312
3. Now that’s an amazing campaign idea!
Give one word a day everyday with a hashtag i'll EVEN VOTE FOR CONGRESS if that keeps your juices flowing
— Rohit sanvariya | רוהיט סנוואריה (@Rsanvariya) March 26, 2018
4. True!
This is among the best initiatives and effective use of this medium @ShashiTharoor
Keep it up. Looking forward for more.Also remindingly affirms the way school teachers' advice of learning a word a day!
— Burny Johnson (@Burnyjohnson) March 26, 2018
That’s a great way to start the week, right? We learned a beautiful word and got to reminisce a lot of talented authors as well. I’m all for Tharoor making this a daily affair!