affair vs shortcut

affair

noun
  • Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely. 

  • An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle. 

  • An adulterous relationship (from affaire de cœur, affair of the heart). 

  • A person with whom someone has an adulterous relationship. 

  • A romantic relationship with someone who is not one's regular partner (boyfriend, girlfriend). 

  • Something which is done or is to be done; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public. 

  • A party or social gathering, especially of a formal nature. 

  • A material object (vaguely designated). 

shortcut

noun
  • A method to accomplish something that omits one or more steps. 

  • A keyboard shortcut: a combination of keystrokes that provides easier access to a command or operation. 

  • A path between two points that is faster than the commonly used paths. 

  • A file that points to the location of another file and serves as a quick way to access it. 

verb
  • To take or use a shortcut 

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