The following is an interview between me and my friend, Edgar, while he was practicing piano over at the Caruso Catholic Center. He told me about a proverb he knew from Nicaragua.

Edgar: “En guerra avisada no muere soldado,” and this literally means… it literally means ‘If you know about the war, soldiers are not gonna die,’ If you know war is coming, right? If you know someone’s about to attack you, soldiers are not gonna die. that’s pretty much it. And, that’s just from many things, but the one that I heard it the most is from my professor, you know. He would– my professor would go, ‘Okay, so you guys have a quiz on so-and-so day, you have to study this and this and that… ‘En guerra avisada no muere soldado.” which pretty much means… I told you when it’s coming! Be prepared for it. So that would be… that’s probably the most common, like, way to hear about it, I guess.”

Me: “A professor in Nicaragua?”

Edgar: “Yeah. Just saying, like, be ready for the test.”

Edgar’s explanation of how his teacher utilized this proverb came as a surprise to me, as upon first hearing it, I just thought of it as pertaining to actual war. But I guess that’s why it became so widely circulated is due to its capability to relate to multiple situations.