When a National Treasure wins a National Award...

Wordsmith-politician Shashi Tharoor chose to keep it simple in his congratulations to Shah Rukh Khan for his National Award win. “A National Treasure wins a National Award. Congratulations @iamsrk,” Tharoor wrote on X in response to Shah Rukh bagging the National Award for his 2023 film Jawan.

“Thank you for the simple praise Mr Tharoor... would not have understood something more magniloquent and sesquipedalian...ha ha,” the superstar wrote back early Monday, tongue firmly in cheek as he added some words to our lexicon. The Oxford dictionary defines magniloquent as ‘using high-flown or bombastic language’ and sesquipedalian as ‘of many syllables’.

Tharoor’s comments often leave even those well-versed with English scratching their heads. Today, was clearly Shah Rukh’s turn. He has been on a thanking spree ever since the announcement of his first National Award on Friday. He shares the award with Vikrant Massey for 12th Fail.