“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” wrote the beloved Shakespeare. Little did he know that his advice-of-sorts would be turned on its head!
Enter Shashi Tharoor. The man who has words like ‘farrago’, ‘snollygosters’, and ‘rodomontade’ up his sleeve.
In this episode of ‘Tweeting Like Tharoor’, we attempt to be ‘precise’ with our words, and see if the rose by another name is still a rose!
We Like Big Words and We Cannot Lie!
Confused? Here’s what we meant to say: “Hey Mr Tharoor, we like big words and we cannot lie, but isn’t life complicated enough already to make it worse by burdening ourselves with syllables that leave the tongue in a twist, and fry the brain? No?”
What Young India Wants
In simple words, “You have strongly asserted that ‘communication’ is all about ‘precision’, but, do tell us, if such precision leads to widespread confusion among today’s youth, tomorrow’s leaders by default, then why risk such perfection?”
Words are but Gatorade!
“However, we do agree that big words hold much sway over one’s shaky sense of self. They are like Gatorade for the fatigued body.”
Of ‘Snollygosters’ and ‘Rodomontade’
“...And if one were to stitch some of the words that you’ve used, they’d come up with a confused mixture of phrases, wrapped in a traditional package, and sprinkled with stardust. They’d probably also start imagining themselves as the heroes of tomorrow- the kind who despise corrupt leaders and boasting.”
Phew. Shakespeare would be turning in his grave reading these tweets!
He would probably never have guessed that we would be referring to everything from the rose to the universe by words so complicated that the smell — and the meaning — would completely be lost on us.
Par kya karen (What to to), Mr Tharoor is still not convinced. Or is he?
‘No’ is probably the simplest word he has used in a long long while!
And then there was this.
Exactly our point, sir. Exactly our point.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)