close, but no cigar

English

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

1. (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)

• 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)

See also

• a miss is as good as a mile
• almost doesn't count