Close But No Cigar

A lot of people are surprised to learn that I am a smoker.  Even though I only have a few cigarettes per day, I am a smoker.  I only smoke after work and it helps me to fall asleep.

The phrase ‘close but no cigar’ means that you almost accomplished something but fell just short.  You were not successful.  A lot of the time it is used when someone makes a guess.

Example:  You said 1985, but the answer was 1984.  You were close but not cigar. 

In the 1920s, adults enjoyed carnivals.  Nowadays, carnivals are mostly meant for kids.  But, back then, the main audience were adults.  There were games at the carnivals as well.  A common prize was a cigar.  So, if you won the game, you would get a cigar.  However, if you just missed the goal, you were close but no cigar.

The phrase adopted its idiomatic meaning as early as 1929.  It was written by Hank Straub in the Long Island Daily Press as an article heading, “Close; But No Cigar.”.  The story was about a man failing to win a presidential race in a community association.

Nowadays, carnivals hand out stuffed animals as prizes.  It would be strange to receive a cigar as a prize now.  The best prize I won was a bicycle.  I won a local coloring contest when I was young.  The prize was a set of roller blades.  Unfortunately, I lived in the countryside and there was nowhere to use them.  They let me trade them in for a bicycle.

What is the best prize that you have won?

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Reference:
https://www.rd.com/article/close-but-no-cigar-origin/
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/09/the-origin-of-the-phrase-close-but-no-cigar/