Exams: good luck?

I am currently undergoing study for, and conducting university examinations. No doubt many have undergone, or are undergoing similar undertakings. Inevitably you will have heard the phrase "good luck" when someone wishes you well for said exam. It's one of those bizarre irrational quirks of language that doesn't self-reflexively asses what it's actually suggesting. I'm not an expert on semantics, but surely an astute student in any field would not simply rely on luck during an exam. It would be a combination of effective strategy, planning, and sustained temporal commitment. Wishing someone "good luck" for an exam is akin to saying, "here, take this die into the exam, roll it, and if you get a two you can pass". You have a one in six probability of passing—about the same if you're just relying on luck. It's stupid. You're either ready for the exam or you're a total fuck up. If you're the former, we should be saying "You'll pass!" and if you're the later, the alliterative aphorism, "prior planning prevents piss poor performance".

Luck is for gamblers.

———————————————————————————————————————— "... we can explore space together, both inner and outer, forever in peace." —W. M. Hicks.