Shashi Tharoor's tweet has amassed over 7,500 "likes" and 1,200 "retweets" (File)
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, a man of many words, has introduced a new word to his followers. Calling it the word of "the last seven years", the politician with an oratory skill that sets him in a league of his own, threw "Allodoxaphobia" at his 8.2 million followers, but with a political spin.
In the tweet, Mr Tharoor explains the word and its usage, in that order, using the BJP and its actions in Uttar Pradesh as an example.
He writes: "Meaning: an irrational fear of opinions. Usage: "The BJP government in UP slaps sedition and UAPA cases on people because its leadership suffers from allodoxaphobia."
With the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh just around the corner, the Opposition politician chose to use the state and its way of governance to explain the word with its Greek origins.
"Greek: Allo=different, doxo=opinion, phobos=fear," he wrote in the tweet which has amassed over 7,500 "likes" and 1,200 "retweets".
Mr Tharoor has often been called a wordsmith. In June, Mr Tharoor gave a cheeky response to those "who issue snarky remarks daily" about his diction. In April, he used a rarely used word- "floccinaucinihilipilification" - during banter with his fellow politician and TRS chief KT Rama Rao.
Before that, Mr Tharoor has stumped people with "farrago" and "troglodyte". "Farrago" means a confused mixture and "troglodyte" means a person regarded as being deliberately ignorant or old-fashioned.