So, what do you say in English when you want to give good wishes for a successful outcome of an enterprise?
In German, we say "viel Erfolg!" - literally translated:"much success" - basically short for "I wish you success with your enterprise/task/activity."
It seems to me, the only thing you can say in English in such a situation is: "good luck!"
I've always found that very unsatisfactory. Sure, there are enterprises where luck is the decisive factor. If we were talking about this blog, maybe, for readers to find it, for those reader who do find it to happen to have the same interest in language, for the technology to work - these are things that I can't influence much, so they are down to luck. But if we are talking about exams, for example - the context in which the phrase is most often used - as far as I'm concerned, luck doesn't enter into it. If I've studied, I might even find it slightly offensive for the wisher to suppose I need luck to help me along with a test.
Maybe English mentality with regard to exams is different? Maybe there is a feeling that the examiner is always out to trick you, that you can never be good enough to pass without getting lucky with the questions falling right? While in German we suppose that an exam is an honest affair that just checks that I studied, so if I have there's no reason to expect failure? Or maybe it's just me not minding exams?
If anyone knows of something other than "good luck" to say if someone heads for an exam, please let me know!
