‘Quockerwodger is the word of our time’: Shashi Tharoor’s latest vocabulary lesson comes with a political punch | Today’s news

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday described “quockerwodger” as “the word of our era”, adding that he thought “our ruling party has spawned a few of them in the last dozen years”. Tharoor is likely referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power at the center since 2014.

“The word of our time! I think our ruling party has spawned a few in the last dozen years…” Tharoor wrote on X, sharing the word ‘quockerwodger’ and its meaning as an attachment.

“A political puppet, a person who is controlled by someone else and acts according to his instructions,” read the meaning of the word in the appendix.

But what exactly does “quockerwodger” mean?

The 19th-century English slang term “quockerwodger” originally referred to a wooden toy puppet—an articulated figure whose arms and legs twitch or dance when manipulated by strings.

Tharoor’s exact reference in Sunday’s post was not immediately known.

Political significance?

The word later acquired a figurative political meaning: a person, especially a politician, who lacks independent will and is controlled or controlled by someone else.

In political usage, therefore, calling someone a “quockerwodger” suggests that they are essentially a puppet politician who acts at the direction or wishes of another person rather than independently.

A Congress MP from Kerala and a contributing author, Tharoor has a widely recognized command of English, known for his extensive vocabulary, complex sentence structures and sharp eloquence.

The former Union minister often uses sophisticated, unusual words that often make people look for a dictionary, leading to viral internet moments and popular coinages that inspired his book Tharoorosaurus.

Exceptions passed. Tharoor has committed grammatical errors in the recent past.

Tharoor makes a grammatical mistake

Tharoor made the mistake of greeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday on social media. On September 17, Tharoor wrote a warm message to the Prime Minister but managed to confuse his prepositions.

Instead of writing “on his 76th birthday”, Tharoor’s typo included using “on his 76th birthday” – a mistake that was quickly picked up by social media users.

One of the users pointed out the error, saying that even Tharoor can be wrong. “Shashi ji made a grammar mistake!!! Even though it’s a fat finger!!!” written by the user.

Acknowledging the mistake, Tharoor replied, “Yes ‘on’ his birthday became ‘in’. Unfortunately that happens all the time.”