Watch: Shashi Tharoor's Reply When Student Asked Him For A New Word

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's response to a student asking him for a new word drew applause at a recent event. On Monday, Mr Tharoor, known for his extensive vocabulary, took to Twitter to share a video of the event. In the video, a student asks Mr Tharoor for a new word to learn.

To this, the 63-year-old politician responds: "I'll give you a very simple, very old word - 'read'". His response drew loud applause from the audience.

Mr Tharoor then went on to elaborate on his word of choice. "I have read extensively. If you read widely, and you come across the same word in three different contexts in three different books, you will understand the meaning and the usage very quickly."

Shashi Tharoor, who often has people reaching for their dictionaries, also claimed that he himself has "barely opened" a dictionary in his life. He concluded his answer by asking students to read as much as they could to develop their vocabularies. "My only advice to all of you is read, read, read. The more you read, the better your vocabulary will also be."

Watch the video below:

My reply to a student who asked me to give him a new word in view of my reputation as a fount of exotic vocabulary: pic.twitter.com/I6mr9DOX6m

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 11, 2019

The video has been viewed 2 lakh times since it was shared online, and many on Twitter have praised Mr Tharoor's advice.

Very well said 👍

— TSJN (@JaisekharNair) November 12, 2019

Wonderful advice 🙏

— Jaini /উজ্জয়িনী/ اجینی (@IchbinUjjaini) November 11, 2019

Very good sir...Without reading, vocabulary cannot grow

— Mayur Dhage (@MayurDhage13) November 11, 2019

Shashi Tharoor is known for often using long and obscure words. He is credited with familiarising his followers with words like lalochezia, farrago, rodomontade, webaqoof and snollygoster.