difficulty vs handicap

difficulty

noun
  • An obstacle that hinders achievement of a goal. 

  • Physical danger from the environment, especially with risk of drowning 

  • The state of being difficult, or hard to do. 

  • An objection. 

  • An awkward situation or quarrel. 

  • That which cannot be easily understood or believed. 

handicap

noun
  • An allowance of a certain amount of time or distance in starting, granted in a race (or other contest of skill) to the competitor possessing disadvantages; or an additional weight or other hindrance imposed upon the one possessing advantages, in order to equalize, as much as possible, the chances of success. 

  • Something that prevents, hampers, or hinders. 

  • The disadvantage itself, in particular physical or mental disadvantages of people. 

  • A race or similar contest in which there is an allowance of time, distance, weight, or other advantage, to equalize the chances of the competitors. 

verb
  • To estimate betting odds. 

  • To encumber with a handicap in any contest. 

  • To place at disadvantage. 

How often have the words difficulty and handicap occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )