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 (Tivoli-konkurranser) gave out cigars as prizes, and this is the most likely source, although there's no definitive evidence to prove that."

Det er lett å forestille seg hvordan frasen ble brukt av hyggelige ansatte ved diverse karnival for å berolige dårlige skyttere eller slegge-pingler. Særlig ble sigarer brukt i sleggekonkurranser:

"Specifically the game where players use a sledgehammer to ring a bell. Macho victors were given cigars, while the wimps were told they came close, but they would not be receiving any carcinogenic tobacco for their efforts"

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!"

It appears in U. S. newspapers widely from around 1949 onwards. For example, a story from The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, November 1949, where The Lima House Cigar and Sporting Goods Store narrowly avoided being burned down in a fire, was titled 'Close But No Cigar'.

En annen teori om opprinnelsen er at gamle slot-machines gav store premier hvis man fikk tre sigarer, og at man dermed sa "'Nice, but not cigars" om man fikk for eksempel tre kirsebær. 

Idag brukes dessverre ikke frasen like mye som på 50- og 60-tallet, men den dukker stadig opp, især i blekker som The Economist.