As a user (of Australian English), I too am astonished to hear that we really do have some words of our very own which are in everyday, non-slang usage. How, er, confronting. Heh.
I agree with commenters here that "challenging", "unsettling" and "outside one's comfort zone" are roughly what "confronting" means, but I don't the connotations have to be negative. Sure, "confronting" *can* be used as a euphemism for "shocking" or "immoral" or "unpleasant", but it needn't be. Often it's a way of implying that the status quo is limited and insular and the "confronting" thing or artwork or whatever is is providing a necessary catalyst for broading people's minds and shocking them out of complacency.
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Date: 2007-11-08 01:17 am (UTC)As a user (of Australian English), I too am astonished to hear that we really do have some words of our very own which are in everyday, non-slang usage. How, er, confronting. Heh.
I agree with commenters here that "challenging", "unsettling" and "outside one's comfort zone" are roughly what "confronting" means, but I don't the connotations have to be negative. Sure, "confronting" *can* be used as a euphemism for "shocking" or "immoral" or "unpleasant", but it needn't be. Often it's a way of implying that the status quo is limited and insular and the "confronting" thing or artwork or whatever is is providing a necessary catalyst for broading people's minds and shocking them out of complacency.