Question by Stacie!: What does the term “Close, but no cigar” intend?
Obviously it means that a guess or idea is close but not right. My question is…what is the metaphor behind the term and where did it come from?
Best answer:
Answer by 18gibbs20
Carnivals utilized to have cigars as prizes for some games
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5 Comments until now
A carnival game where they hit a lever with a sledgehammer to try to ring the bell. You use to win a cigar if you rang the bell
Close, but no cigar
Meaning
Fall just short of a successful outcome and get nothing for your efforts.
Origin
The phrase, and its variant ‘nice try, but no cigar’, are of US origin and date from the mid-20th century. Fairground stalls gave out cigars as prizes, and this is the most likely source, although there’s no definitive evidence to prove that.
It is first recorded in print in Sayre and Twist’s publishing of the script of the 1935 film version of Annie Oakley:
“Close, Colonel, but no cigar!”
Many years ago a cigar would be offered s a prize to someone who could make a correct guess or answer to a question. It probably came from this practice. Back in those days cigars could be purchased for a nickel.
American origin.Assumed that it arose in carnivals,where the prize for ringing a bell with a sledge hammer was often a cigar.If you got close to ringing the bell but didn’t actually hit it,you might be told “close but no cigar”
Fall just short of a successful outcome and get nothing for your efforts.
Origin
The phrase, and its variant ‘nice try, but no cigar’, are of US origin and date from the mid-20th century. Fairground stalls gave out cigars as prizes, and this is the most likely source, although there’s no definitive evidence to prove that.
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