I shall not be sorry if this review contains gratuitous grandiloquence or unrestrained zealousness, even at the risk of appearing sesquipedalian – these are mere symptoms of having devoured Shashi Tharoor’s Wonderland of Words. Let me dive into this lexical labyrinth and emerge with a review that’s hopefully) as witty as Tharoor’s wordsmithery (of course, I coined that word!).

Whose English is it anyway?

As an Indian, I never realised the quirks of “Indian English” until Tharoor made me fall off of my chair laughing. Whenever I heard someone say: He is my “real” brother, What is your “good” name?, Looking for a “homely” bride, I don’t eat “non-vegetarian” and so on; I never raised my eyebrows until now. Indians “pass out” from a school when people everywhere else pass out after partying too hard. Indians watch a “picture” when they are actually watching a movie. This is only one chapter of many and I’m already getting carried away, let me not “eat your head” now!

And there are words that should be adopted by English. Like “tsundoku” in Japanese – which means a growing pile of unread books. My tsundoku is tsundokuing indeed! The chapter about newspaper headlines gone wrong is by far one of the most hilarious pieces of writing I’ve come across. Sample this: “Squad helps dog bite victim” and “Whale watching boat carrying 27 sinks”. These are two of the many rib-tickling examples which Tharoor quotes. “The strike leaders had called a meeting in a bra near the factory, but it was too small to hold them all”, was an actual misprint in a popular newspaper.

Next comes a chapter on “pleaonasms” – usage of unnecessary additional words). “Saw with my own eyes”, “close proximity’, “exact replica”. I stopped to wonder why we use them the way we do. A chapter was an “unexpected surprise” to say the least!

A mad, mad language

When was the last time you suffered from “Lethologica” – when you can’t remember the right word for the thought you wish to express? I wish to explain how I felt reading about it, but what was that word again? Tharoor writes about war-time words, nautical terms, inappropriate appropriate words and many; which I blitzkrieged and sailed through. I smiled all the while as I read through “oxymorons” – I can try to “act naturally” but I have “clearly misunderstood” the author’s motive who is “seriously funny” at this point.

It was also surprising to learn about misnomers – that “guinea pig” isn’t originally from Guinea nor it is a pig (yes, I knew that already), or “black boxes” are actually painted orange, and that “Venetian” blinds are from Japan and “Chinese” checkers originated in England!

I wish to write more about this big beautiful book, but I don’t want to sound ultracrepidarian (giving opinions on matters beyond one's knowledge) lest I end up being a cockwomble (who is prone to making stupid statements thinking they’re being intelligent). I can’t explain the emotions I experienced as I flipped the last page, (I guess I also have alexithymia – the inability to describe emotions verbally); but I remember having a lot of fun reading this one. I’m sure you’ll too. Now if I may, allow me to dash to my husband who is ailing from cingulomania (Google that one!).

A Wonderland of Words: Around the Word in 101 Essays, Shashi Tharoor, Aleph Book Company.