"no plan survives contact with the enemy" meaning in English

See no plan survives contact with the enemy in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

Audio: En-au-no plan survives contact with the enemy.ogg
Head templates: {{head|en|phrase}} no plan survives contact with the enemy
  1. (idiomatic) After a plan against an enemy is drafted, there will be unexpected elements from the opposition that will call for improvisation. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-no_plan_survives_contact_with_the_enemy-en-phrase-iwFpkxUt
  2. (loosely) Even with a preexisting plan, unexpected circumstances will require one to think on one's feet. Tags: broadly Synonyms: no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy, no plan survives first contact with the enemy
    Sense id: en-no_plan_survives_contact_with_the_enemy-en-phrase-aUerDH5E Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 24 76 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 18 82 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 9 91

Alternative forms

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        "After a plan against an enemy is drafted, there will be unexpected elements from the opposition that will call for improvisation."
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) After a plan against an enemy is drafted, there will be unexpected elements from the opposition that will call for improvisation."
      ],
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "ref": "2015, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic), Number 2933: Game Over Man, Game Over:",
          "text": "‹\"No plan survives first contact with the enemy.\" Or with a pretty girl in a sundress.›",
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        "Even with a preexisting plan, unexpected circumstances will require one to think on one's feet."
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        "(loosely) Even with a preexisting plan, unexpected circumstances will require one to think on one's feet."
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          "word": "no battle plan survives contact with the enemy"
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        {
          "_dis1": "42 58",
          "word": "no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy"
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          "_dis1": "42 58",
          "word": "no plan survives first contact with the enemy"
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        "After a plan against an enemy is drafted, there will be unexpected elements from the opposition that will call for improvisation."
      ],
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        "(loosely) Even with a preexisting plan, unexpected circumstances will require one to think on one's feet."
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    {
      "word": "no battle plan survives contact with the enemy"
    },
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      "word": "no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy"
    },
    {
      "word": "no plan survives first contact with the enemy"
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  "word": "no plan survives contact with the enemy"
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (f90d964 and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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