Etymology
From the practice of giving cigars as prizes at carnivals in the US in the 19th century; this phrase would be said to those who failed to win a prize.
Phrase
close, but no cigar
- (idiomatic) That's almost correct, but not quite
Translations
that's almost correct, but not quite
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 功虧一簣 (cmn), 功亏一篑 (cmn) (gōngkuīyīkuì) (one basket (of dirt) short of success)
- Danish: lige ved og næsten slår ingen mand af hesten (da)
- Finnish: melkein on metri maalista (fi) ("almost" is still a meter from the goal)
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- French: presque réussi, mais raté (fr)
- German: knapp daneben ist auch vorbei (de) (almost a hit is still a miss)
- Norwegian: nesten skyter ingen mann av hesten (no)
- Russian: почти не считается (ru) (počtí ne sčitájetsja) ("nearly" doesn't count)
- Swedish: nära skjuter ingen hare (sv)
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See also