Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Close, but no cigar
(originally posted April 6th, 2006)
Definition: close to the goal, but not quite.
Example:
A: (Panting) "I ... almost ... beat you!"
B: (Panting, shaking head) "Close, ... but ... no cigar."
Origin: One explanation was that travelling carnival shows have those "strength contests" where the player picks up a jackhammer and hits a lever as hard as he could. The other end of the lever is under a weight. If the player can hit the lever hard enough, the weight will be popped all the way up to hit a bell, thus causing a loud "ding". If he can "ring" the bell, he'll get a cigar as a reward. Thus, if he came close, it's "close, but no cigar."
Definition: close to the goal, but not quite.
Example:
A: (Panting) "I ... almost ... beat you!"
B: (Panting, shaking head) "Close, ... but ... no cigar."
Origin: One explanation was that travelling carnival shows have those "strength contests" where the player picks up a jackhammer and hits a lever as hard as he could. The other end of the lever is under a weight. If the player can hit the lever hard enough, the weight will be popped all the way up to hit a bell, thus causing a loud "ding". If he can "ring" the bell, he'll get a cigar as a reward. Thus, if he came close, it's "close, but no cigar."
# posted by GuyReviews @ 11:26 AM 
