mess vs quandary

mess

noun
  • A disagreeable mixture or confusion of things; hence, a situation resulting from blundering or from misunderstanding. 

  • A building or room in which mess is eaten. 

  • A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared in common, especially military personnel who eat at the same table. 

  • The milk given by a cow at one milking. 

  • A large quantity or number. 

  • Excrement. 

  • A person in a state of (especially emotional) turmoil or disarray; an emotional wreck. 

  • A dessert of fruit and cream, similar to a fool. 

  • A group of iguanas. 

  • A set of four (from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner). 

verb
  • To eat (with others). 

  • To make soiled by ejaculating. 

  • To screw around with, to bother, to be annoying to. 

  • To supply with a mess. 

  • To belong to a mess. 

  • To make soiled by defecating. 

  • To take meals with a mess. 

  • To throw into disorder or to ruin. 

  • To interfere. 

quandary

noun
  • A state of not knowing what to decide; a state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation or puzzlement. 

  • A dilemma, a difficult decision or choice. 

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