close, but no cigar

See also: close but no cigar

English

WOTD – 10 June 2021

Etymology

From the practice of giving cigars as prizes at carnivals in the United States in the 20th century; those who did not win would fail to receive a cigar, even if they came close.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkləʊs bʌt nəʊ sɪˈɡɑː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkloʊs bʌt noʊ sɪˈɡɑɹ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: close, but no ci‧gar

Phrase

close, but no cigar

1. (idiomatic, originally US, colloquial) Used to indicate that one is almost correct or has almost succeeded, but not quite. [from early 20th c.]

   Synonyms: almost doesn't count, a miss is as good as a mile

   Betty ran all out in the sprint race; yet, it was close, but no cigar.

   • 1929 July 2, J. C. R., “’28’s First”, in Asa S[mith] Bushnell [III], editor, Princeton Alumni Weekly, volume XXIX, number 36, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1166, column 2:

     The long distance trophy [for alumni who had traveled the furthest to attend the reunion], an appropriately inscribed silver cigarette case, was awarded to Em Gooch who had made the trip from Lincoln, Neb. for the occasion. Several other members came close, but no cigar, and we trust that all those in New York and Philadelphia who failed to show up, without reason, will read these lines with a quiver.

Alternative forms

• close but no cigar

Translations

used to indicate that one is almost correct or has almost succeeded, but not quite

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 功虧一簣 / 功亏一篑 (zh) (gōngkuīyīkuì), 失之毫釐，差之千里 (zh), 失之毫厘，差之千里 (zh) (shīzhīháolí, chàzhīqiānlǐ, literally “a failure of micrometres and centimetres, a discrepancy of a thousand li (five hundred kilometres)”), 踏錯一步，滿盤皆輸 / 踏错一步，满盘皆输 (tàcuòyībù, mǎnpánjiēshū)

• Danish: lige ved og næsten slår ingen mand af hesten, så tæt på og dog så langt fra
• Dutch: bijna telt niet, het is net niks
• Finnish: melkein muttei ihan (literally “almost but not quite”)
• French: presque réussi, mais raté (literally “almost succeeded, but failed”)
• German: knapp daneben ist auch vorbei (literally “almost a hit is still a miss”), dicht daneben ist auch vorbei (literally “Close by is still missed”)
• Indonesian: dekat tak tercapai, jauh tak berantara
• Irish: ní fearr Éire ná orlach (literally “Ireland is no better than an inch”)
• Italian: ci sei quasi
• Japanese: 惜しい (ja) (oshii)
• Latvian: gandrīz neskaitās
• Malay:

  Jawi: دکت تق ترچاڤاي, جاءوه تق برانتارا

  Rumi: dekat tak tercapai, jauh tak berantara

• Norwegian: nesten holder ikke, ^{(please verify)} nesten skyter ingen mann av hesten
• Polish: prawie robi wielką różnicę (literally “‘almost’ makes a big difference”)
• Portuguese: bateu na trave (literally “hit the goalpost”) (Brazil), passou perto, só que não (literally “got close, but no”) (Brazil), ficou no quase (literally “stopped at 'almost'”) (Brazil)
• Russian: чуть-чу́ть не счита́ется (čutʹ-čútʹ ne sčitájetsja, literally “‘a little’ doesn't count”), про́мах есть про́мах (prómax jestʹ prómax, literally “a miss is a miss”)
• Slovene: skoraj še ni zajca ujel
• Spanish: de casi no se muere nadie (literally “nobody ever dies from an almost”), los casis no cuentan (literally “the almosts don’t count”)
• Swedish: nära skjuter ingen hare (sv) (literally “close shoots no hare”)
• Turkish: neredeyse doğru ama tam olarak değil

Further reading

• “close but no cigar” under “cigar, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2021.
• “close but no cigar, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• Colin McIntosh, editor (2013), “close, but no cigar”, in Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, reproduced in the Cambridge English Dictionary website, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• “close, but no cigar”, in The Idioms: Largest Idioms Dictionary‎^[1], 2021 May 10 (last accessed), archived from the original on 30 January 2021