Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, renowned for his extensive English vocabulary and linguistic precision, has found himself in an uncharacteristic spotlight after misspelling the word "concern" as "condern" in a post on X. The rare typographical error quickly drew attention, not least because of Tharoor's reputation for using long and less commonly heard English words.
The gaffe occurred when Tharoor shared a post on former Odisha chief minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik's recent surgery. "Conderned to hear from friends that Naveen Patnaik has just undergone surgery, but relieved that he is now doing well. Wish him a speedy and complete recovery!" the Congress leader wrote.
The typo was highlighted by businessman and columnist Suhel Seth who responded to Tharoor's post and said, "What’s ‘conderned’, good sir? New word?"
"Concerned, when typed with a fat and careless thumb!" Tharoor replied.
The joke, however, didn't end there. Seth, who had met the Congress leader in London for a media event, later shared a picture with Tharoor on X and wrote: “Just met Shashi Tharoor and am conderned about his throat: he’s nursing a cold…”
"Thank you for your concern, Suhel Seth! Grateful that you condign to be conderned! Watch out — some may condemn you for that!" Tharoor replied.
The Kerala Congress MP might have been referring to the comments from his party president Mallikarjun Kharge. When questioned about Tharoor's praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Operation Sindoor, Kharge had remarked at a press conference last week: "Shashi Tharoor's English is very good, that's why he has been taken in the CWC (Congress Working Committee). I supported this."
Social media reaction
Meanwhile, netizens appeared to be amused by Tharoor's rare typographical error. Several users said they thought "conderned" was indeed a real word.
"Tharoorji, when you type the wrong word, it's still something we think it's a new word we have to learn," commented Dr Sundar Sankaran, programme director Aster Institute of Renal Transplantation in Bengaluru. X user Maneesh Mohnot (@winsplit) said, "I actually googled the meaning of 'conderned'. I was sure that it was a typo but when one is in ShashiTharoor's company, new words can just drop out of thin air."
"We trusted you so much that I thought conderned was a real word," wrote another X user Soorya (@saisooryan). "You know how we just take it for granted that, if you say it, then there must be a word like that, don't you?" added Schrödinger's Dawg (@pintya_).
Some comments were also addressed to Seth.
"Don’t stand too close to him Suhel else you too will catch the cold. We are conderned that no one will be available to correct our English for next 7 days," Rubina Lal (@) commented.
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