The verb display is one that usually flies under the radar; it means simply “to show” or “to make visible.” A shopkeeper might display a sign in their window. The verb flaunt is much more of a show-off! Flaunt is defined as “to parade or display ostentatiously.” A person who flaunts their wealth actively draws attention to it. The boastfulness baked into this term explains why flaunt is often couched in disapproving contexts. But sometimes the word is used more affirmingly to reject a stigma associated with an idea, circumstance, or behavior.

A jumble is a confused mixture of something or a disordered heap or mass, as a jumble of paper clips, rubber bands, and string (oh my!). In the U.K., jumble is also short for jumble sale, the equivalent of a rummage sale in the U.S. This disorderly noun is pretty close in meaning to the synonym hodgepodge. A hodgepodge, strictly speaking, is a mixture of incongruous items. But of course there’s nothing strict about this term, which is commonly used to talk about styles or ideas that are crammed together with no apparent rhyme or reason.

Today we shed light into the great unknown as we compare the nouns mystery and enigma. Mystery is the more general of the two terms, referring to anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained. It can also refer to any person or thing that arouses curiosity or speculation for their obscure qualities. Enigma is more specific: it entered English in the 16th century as a word for a riddle. Its meaning has expanded, but the theme of puzzles or puzzlement is still central to how we use it today. Any puzzling or inexplicable occurrence might be called an enigma as well as a person of puzzling or contradictory character.