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Reader question: Please explain “equal to the challenge”, as in: When you have a challenge and the response is equal to the challenge, that’s called “success”. My comments: A challenge is something that’s not easy to deal with, but one that puts one’s strength, skill, ability to test. To be equal is to have the same quantity or quality (of what is required to meet the challenge). “Equal to the challenge”, therefore, means you’re able to deal with it, after putting in the effort, both physical and mentally. That’s quite a simple (boring) explanation, no? To elaborate and make it sound more elegant, equal to the challenge means that the challenge is great, but your abilities are equally great, or great in equal measure. In short, the challenge may be daunting and formidable, but you have the wherewithal or necessary means, i.e. the requisite qualities, such as strength, skill, heart to handle it. Still in other words, you’ve got what it takes to deal with it and succeed. Similar terms include “equal to the scene” or “equal to the occasion” – you find yourself in a challenging situation but are smart enough to handle it. “Equal to the challenge”, by the way, is a cliché that’s often found in a soccer game report. I say so because as a fan of English soccer, I’ve encountered this, well, tiresome phrase innumerous times, and mostly in describing a good save from a goalkeeper. The striker (the main scorer), you know, would make a spectacular shot on goal but the goal keeper would be described as “equal to the challenge”. That simply means a good shot but no goal because the goalkeeper had sprang up and saved it, or pushed it out, either over the bar or beyond the post. | 
