New Delhi, Jul 2: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, known for his penchant for rarely used English words, sent the Twitterati running for their dictionaries on Friday with another head scratcher -- pogonotrophy.
Tharoor said he learnt of the new word pogonotrophy, which means the growing or cultivation of a beard, from a friend. He also used the word to take an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A Twitter user reached out to Tharoor, saying she was waiting to learn a new word and the former Union minister was quick to oblige.
"My friend Rathin Roy, the economist, taught me a new word today: pogonotrophy, which means 'the cultivation of a beard'. As in, the PM's pogonotrophy has been a pandemic preoccupation ," he said in a tweet.
Tharoor's tweet left many bemused with a Twitter user saying, "If the world has Oxford dictionary Why not India has Tharur Dictionary (sic)?"
"Thanks for sharing this one from Tharoorictionary," said another user.
This is not the first time Tharoor has sent Twitterati scurrying for their dictionaries.
In May, Tharoor engaged in a friendly banter with TRS working president K T Rama Rao over COVID-19 medicine names and threw in another head scratcher -- floccinaucinihilipilification.
Oxford dictionary describes floccinaucinihilipilification as the action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
Tharoor has been a man of many words earlier too.
In the past, he has stumped people with rarely used English words such as "farrago" and "troglodyte". While farrago means a confused mixture, a troglodyte means a person regarded as being deliberately ignorant or old-fashioned.
Tharoor has also started a new weekly column on words in the Weekend Magazine of the 'Khaleej Times' of Dubai.
My friend Rathin Roy, the economist, taught me a new word today: pogonotrophy, which means "the cultivation of a beard". As in, the PM's pogonotrophy has been a pandemic preoccupation... https://t.co/oytIvCKRJR
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) July 1, 2021
If the world has Oxford dictionary
— Abhishek Singh (@Abhi1234525Y) July 1, 2021
Why not India has Tharur Dictionary??
Thanks for sharing this one from Tharoorictionary
— राघव चांडक (@raghavc1) July 2, 2021
Started a new weekly column on words in the Weekend Magazine of the @khaleejtimes of Dubai. Here’s the inaugural piece, today: pic.twitter.com/6hPGV6u7T2
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) July 2, 2021
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Bareilly (UP) (PTI): A local court here has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his mentally challenged wife by repeatedly electrocuting her while she was tied to a cot, lawyers said on Thursday.
Additional district government counsel Harendra Singh Rathore said Additional Sessions Judge Avinash Kumar Singh on Wednesday convicted Vinod Kumar (45) for killing his wife, Satyavati, in Chaina village of Bareilly district and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on him.
According to the prosecution, he was allegedly frustrated with his wife Satyavati's mental illness and often assaulted her.
Rathore said the prosecution examined nine witnesses to establish the charges against him.
As per court records, on the night of May 1-2, 2022, when Satyavati was asleep, Vinod tied her hands and legs to a cot using ropes and then connected an aluminium cable to an electric board to repeatedly administer electric shocks to her.
"She writhed in pain, but the accused continued to electrocute her until she died," the prosecution said.
The court observed that the murder was carried out in an inhuman manner.
After committing the crime, the accused threw the rope and cable on the roof and left for work at a brick kiln around 2 am to create a false alibi.
He later tried to mislead the police and the victim's family by claiming that Satyavati, whose mental condition was unstable, had accidentally died by suicide after grabbing a live electric wire.
However, the victim's brother, Sanjeev, a resident of Shahjahanpur district, suspected foul play and lodged an FIR under sections 498A (husband subjecting wife to cruelty) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Nawabganj police station.
During the trial, the prosecution relied on the post-mortem report prepared by Dr Faraz Anwar, who stated that multiple electrocution marks found on different parts of the victim's body could not have been self-inflicted.
The police also recovered the rope and electric wire used in the crime on the accused's identification, officials said.
