conundrum
a problem that is difficult to solve
TRANSLATION
conundrum = das Rätsel, die Zwickmühle (woerterbuch.info) --- GOOGLE INDEX conundrum: approximately 5,500,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The report attempts to resolve a long-standing CONUNDRUM - namely how to devise a system of testing which both helps improve pupils' learning and holds schools to account for their performance.
(The BBC News)
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Whether talking about addiction, taxation or education, there is always at the center of the conversation an essential CONUNDRUM: How come we are selling this deadly stuff anyway?
- author and newspaper columnist Anna Quindlen about cigarettes
(The BBC News)
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Whether talking about addiction, taxation or education, there is always at the center of the conversation an essential CONUNDRUM: How come we are selling this deadly stuff anyway?
- author and newspaper columnist Anna Quindlen about cigarettes
Did you
know?
conundrum
noun
- a confusing and difficult problem or question.
- a riddle
(Compact Oxford English Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
According to the Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, conundrum was a late 16th century word that referred to a "whim", a sudden desire or idea that can't be explained. It was also used to describe a pedant, someone who is too interested in small unimportant details and formal rules. How this meaning originated is unknown. Sometime later it began to be used in the sense of a riddle, a pun or a word play.
In the late 18th century, it took on another spelling, quonundrum. This likely originated from the common practice in English universities of creating humorous Latin-sounding words. Today, in addition to describing a problem that is difficult if not impossible to solve because it is based on conflicting interests, a conundrum is also a riddle that is answered with a pun or word play:
Question 1: At what time of day was Adam created?
Question 2: What belongs to you, but is mostly used by others?
Question 3: A hunter hangs up a small tin can, walks straight away 100 paces, puts on an impenetrable blindfold, turns around 3 times, fires one shot and hits the can. How is this possible?
(Scroll down for answers)
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SYNONYMS
(riddle)
brain-teaser, closed book, enigma, mind-boggler, mystery, mystification, poser, problem, puzzle, stumper
(problem)
bind, box, catch 22, corner, difficulty, double bind, fix, hole, impasse, jam, mess, mire, perplexity, pickle, plight, predicament, quandary, scrape, spot, strait
* A frequently heard idiom that describes a practical conundrum is the expression "to be between a rock and a hard place."
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
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RIDDLE ANSWERS
Answer 1: A little before Eve.
Answer 2: Your name.
Answer 3: He hangs the tin on the end of his rifle.
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IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"It’s a real conundrum to me how people can pay such enormous sums of money for some works of modern art."
noun
- a confusing and difficult problem or question.
- a riddle
(Compact Oxford English Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
According to the Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, conundrum was a late 16th century word that referred to a "whim", a sudden desire or idea that can't be explained. It was also used to describe a pedant, someone who is too interested in small unimportant details and formal rules. How this meaning originated is unknown. Sometime later it began to be used in the sense of a riddle, a pun or a word play.
In the late 18th century, it took on another spelling, quonundrum. This likely originated from the common practice in English universities of creating humorous Latin-sounding words. Today, in addition to describing a problem that is difficult if not impossible to solve because it is based on conflicting interests, a conundrum is also a riddle that is answered with a pun or word play:
Question 1: At what time of day was Adam created?
Question 2: What belongs to you, but is mostly used by others?
Question 3: A hunter hangs up a small tin can, walks straight away 100 paces, puts on an impenetrable blindfold, turns around 3 times, fires one shot and hits the can. How is this possible?
(Scroll down for answers)
---
SYNONYMS
(riddle)
brain-teaser, closed book, enigma, mind-boggler, mystery, mystification, poser, problem, puzzle, stumper
(problem)
bind, box, catch 22, corner, difficulty, double bind, fix, hole, impasse, jam, mess, mire, perplexity, pickle, plight, predicament, quandary, scrape, spot, strait
* A frequently heard idiom that describes a practical conundrum is the expression "to be between a rock and a hard place."
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
RIDDLE ANSWERS
Answer 1: A little before Eve.
Answer 2: Your name.
Answer 3: He hangs the tin on the end of his rifle.
---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"It’s a real conundrum to me how people can pay such enormous sums of money for some works of modern art."
