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.
Idiom
close, but no cigar
- idiom that's almost correct, but not quite<!--No need for so much verbiage: you almost won, and with a little more effort a win is in your grasp; said to a person in order to encourage them to attempt a game or similar activity again. Used to indicate that a guess or attempt was good, or close, but not correct. The implication is that a miss, no matter how close it was, is still a miss, and in reality no better than any other miss.-->
Translations
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trans-top|that's almost correct, but not quite
Chinese: ����|���簣, ����
Finnish: melkein on metri maalista<!--put this literal translation on the Finnish page, not here ("almost" is still a meter from the goal)-->
French: presque réussi, mais raté
trans-mid
German: knapp daneben ist auch vorbei.
Swedish: nära skjuter ingen hare<!--put this literal translation on the Swedish page, not here (close shoots no hare)-->
trans-bottom
fr:close, but no cigar
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