Proverbs in use

A proverb is an argument that is never justified, and that is exactly why it works. Two things are worth noticing: in conversation often only the first half is spoken — somebody who says <em>«a buen entendedor…»</em> has said the whole thing — and almost every proverb has a counterpart claiming the opposite. The verb to carry away is avisar, in quien avisa no es traidor. Spanish uses it for three things English keeps apart: warning somebody of a danger, « to warn »; letting somebody know, avísame cuando llegues, which is « let me know »; and fetching somebody, hay que avisar a un médico, which is « to call ». The proverb leans on the first sense and the everyday message on the second, so a learner who only knows « to warn » makes every text message sound like a threat.