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.

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Phrase

close, but no cigar

(idiomatic) That's almost correct, but not quite
Synonyms: a miss is as good as a mile, almost doesn't count

It was close but no cigar for Johnny as he came second once again.[1]

Translations

that's almost correct, but not quite

Chinese:
Mandarin: 功虧一簣 (zh), 功亏一篑 (zh) (gōngkuīyīkuì, literally “one basket (of dirt) short of success”), 失之毫釐，差之千里 (zh), 踏错一步，满盘皆输
Danish: så tæt på og dog så langt fra, lige ved og næsten slår ingen mand af hesten
Dutch: het is net niks, bijna telt niet
Finnish: melkein on metri maalista (literally “"almost" is still a meter from the goal”)
French: presque réussi, mais raté (literally “almost succeeded, but failed”)
German: knapp daneben ist auch vorbei (literally “almost a hit is still a miss”)
Irish: ní fearr Éire ná orlach
Italian: ci sei andato vicino ma non abbastanza (literally “you got close but not enough”)
Japanese: 惜しい (ja) (oshii)
Latvian: gandrīz neskaitās

Malay:
Jawi: دکت تق ترچاڤاي, جاءوه تق برانتارا‎

Rumi: dekat tak tercapai, jauh tak berantara
Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} nesten skyter ingen mann av hesten, nesten holder ikke
Polish: prawie robi wielką różnicę (literally “"almost" makes a big difference”)
Portuguese: passou perto, só que não (literally “got close, but no”) (Brazil), bateu na trave (literally “hit the goalpost”) (Brazil)
Russian: чуть-чу́ть не счита́ется (čutʹ-čútʹ ne sčitájetsja, literally “"a little" doesn't count”), про́мах есть про́мах (prómax jestʹ prómax, literally “a miss is a miss”)
Slovene: skoraj še ni zajca ujel
Spanish: de casi no se muere nadie (literally “nobody ever dies from an almost”), los casis no cuentan (literally “the almosts don't count”)
Swedish: nära skjuter ingen hare (sv) (literally “close shoots no hare”)
Turkish: neredeyse doğru ama tam olarak değil

References

, Cambridge Dictionary.

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[close,_but_no_cigar-1] , Cambridge Dictionary.