Faint at Heart but not really

Question

I recently wrote something where I indicated a technical task was not for the faint at heart. What I meant to say was that the task would require a lot of technical knowledge which most of the audience would not likely have. They would need to spend time and effort to learn technical details they probably wouldn't be interested in. So a task only undertaken by someone with the appropriate technical knowledge or someone highly motivated to learn how to do it.

Upon re-reading, I realized that some might take this as implying that if they couldn't or wouldn't do such a thing, they were in some way inadequate.

Without starting an endless debate on whether or not the expression already removes that implication, could I have put it better? If I had been speaking, I wouldn't be concerned, but writing lacks the nuance of delivery.

Answer 1

I would stay with "faint-hearted" - it does not mean they can't do it, but that inspires them to try and tackle the difficult task, which is probably what you want.

Answer 2

There are a few ways you could reword this to eliminate any "weakness" connotations.

Repairing a jet engine by hand is not for the uninitiated.

Traversing a double black diamond ski slope requires rigorous training.

You could also leverage idioms and exaggeration if you're writing more casually.

Answering questions on english.stackexchange.com is rocket science.

Answer 3

Consider saying that it should be left to the experts. Note that this can sound condescending if it doesn't really require rigorous training.

Here are some examples in print (emphasis, mine):

• Of course, most of the climbing in Yosemite National Park should be left to the experts. - Wilbur H. Morrison, Adventure Guide to the Sierra Nevada

• The question of whether the programming of such data is feasible may then be left to the experts. - Cynthia Grabo, Handbook of Warning Intelligence

• Writing such code is not as trivial as it seems, so it should be left to the experts. - Stefan Jablonski, ‎Ilia Petrov, ‎Christian Meiler, Guide to Web Application and Platform Architectures