In same vein, no word for “challenge” that doesn’t also mean “ordeal”. The distinction seems to be also missing from Russian brains, a very peculiar phenomenon that Russian culturologists are always upset about.
to paraphrase, what is the meaning of challenge except “вызов” or “испытание”
There is no extra meaning in “challenge”. “Вызов” and “испытание” cover the English word “challenge” more or less completely. The problem is that they also accidentally cover the English word “ordeal” as well. Challenge is not something bad or painful, but ordeal is. When you say you want “испытание”, you can potentially be understood as “I want more pain in my life”, which is not what English “I want a challenge” means.
That seems like a bug in English, not in Russian, that you can’t say “испытание” without specifying whether you mean “challenge” or “ordeal”. What if you’re not interested in making that distinction?
to paraphrase, what is the meaning of challenge except “вызов” or “испытание”
There is no extra meaning in “challenge”. “Вызов” and “испытание” cover the English word “challenge” more or less completely. The problem is that they also accidentally cover the English word “ordeal” as well. Challenge is not something bad or painful, but ordeal is. When you say you want “испытание”, you can potentially be understood as “I want more pain in my life”, which is not what English “I want a challenge” means.
That seems like a bug in English, not in Russian, that you can’t say “испытание” without specifying whether you mean “challenge” or “ordeal”. What if you’re not interested in making that distinction?