the.com/challenge
A problem wearing a motivational poster so you won't call it a problem.
means A task or situation that tests your abilities and demands effort, skill, or courage to overcome.
from From Old French 'chalenge' (accusation, dispute, claim), from Latin 'calumnia' — yes, the same root as 'calumny,' meaning false accusation or slander. The word originally lived in courtrooms and quarrels: to 'challenge' someone was to accuse them or dispute their claim. Over centuries it migrated from legal accusation to formal duels ('I challenge you to a duel'), then softened into the modern sense of a difficult task worth rising to meet. So the thing on your to-do list and a slanderous lawsuit share a great-great-grandparent.
- legal roots
- once meant formally accusing someone in court
- same root
- shares DNA with calumny, meaning slander
- corporate drift
- now used to avoid saying problem in meetings
- duel era
- 16th century: challenge literally meant fight me