27Oct Saturday, October 25, 2008 – Quandary

Quandary \KWAHN-duh-ree; -dree\, noun:

A state of difficulty, perplexity, doubt, or uncertainty.

Don . . . told me of the quandary that the authorities were in. Should the ruins be left untouched or should they be reconstructed for a new wave of tourists?
— Benjamin Hopkins, “How to avoid the tourists in Peru”, Times (London), May 6, 2000

The school commissioners . . . were in a quandary over the needful size of an “open-air playground.”
— Jacob A. Riis, The Battle with the Slum

Once or twice as I stood waiting there for things to accomplish themselves, I could not resist an impulse to laugh at my miserable quandary.
— H.G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau

Quandary is of unknown origin.

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for quandary

I find it interesting that the etymology of this word is unknown. It sounds like it has cognates or at least shared ancestors in other languages. But I’m a WordNerd, not an etymologist.

After the last two days, it’s nice to find a decent word again.

Anyone who has ever had to share a laundary facility before will be familiar with this quandary. However, I will say, if it’s in the dryer, that means it’s clean.