Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«Escarmentar en cabeza ajena.»
Word for word
To learn a lesson in someone else's head.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: Learn from others' mistakes.
Used when someone learns a lesson by watching another person's failure rather than experiencing it themselves. It praises wisdom gained without personal cost.
Hear it in a sentence
No repitas el error de tu hermano; hay que escarmentar en cabeza ajena.
Don't repeat your brother's mistake; you should learn from others' mistakes.
Why learn dichos?
Proverbs like this one are everywhere in spoken Spanish — dropped mid-conversation, usually just the first half, with the rest left for you to complete. Recognizing them is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook and follow real speech. Every Lingocito edition signs off with the dicho del día, so you meet one a day next to news written at your exact level.