WEBVTT - Why Do We Say 'Close, But No Cigar'?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff, Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>Vogelbaum here. For as much as cigars give off smoke

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<v Speaker 1>that'll stick to your clothes, they've also spawned some similarly

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<v Speaker 1>sticky idioms In the English language. There's sometimes a cigar

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<v Speaker 1>is just a cigar, a meaning that you can't always

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<v Speaker 1>attribute Fredian sub meetings to things. The quote is often

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<v Speaker 1>attributed to Freud himself, but that seems to be apocryphal.

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<v Speaker 1>Another one that's slightly old fashioned but still kicking around

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<v Speaker 1>is what we need is a good five cent cigar,

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<v Speaker 1>which was popularized in the nineteen teens by then Vice

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<v Speaker 1>President of the United States Thomas Riley Marshall. If you're unfamiliar,

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<v Speaker 1>it means that what we need is something that's sensibly

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<v Speaker 1>affordable but still pragmatically useful, as opposed to something overly

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<v Speaker 1>complicated or expensive. He said it during a senate debate

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<v Speaker 1>about our country's needs. But perhaps more common these days,

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<v Speaker 1>if not less old fashioned, there's the phrase close but

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<v Speaker 1>no cigar. Oh. When someone said this to you, you

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<v Speaker 1>probably didn't ask for a cigar. Maybe you don't even

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<v Speaker 1>like them. So why is someone abruptly denying you one.

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<v Speaker 1>This phrase is most often used when someone is nearly

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<v Speaker 1>but not quite successful at something like a football player

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<v Speaker 1>drops an easy catch, or a desperate commuter runs but

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<v Speaker 1>misses their bus pulling away from the bus stop, or

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<v Speaker 1>a math student doesn't catch a critical detail and screws

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<v Speaker 1>up their whole equation. These are all situations worthy of

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<v Speaker 1>a close but no cigar. The gist is obvious to

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<v Speaker 1>anyone who grew up hearing it spoken among their friends

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<v Speaker 1>and family. Yet even if you understand what close but

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<v Speaker 1>no cigar means, you might wonder exactly where this idiom originated.

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<v Speaker 1>After all, what do cigars have to do with success?

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<v Speaker 1>It turns out cigars were once used as prizes for

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<v Speaker 1>carnival games in the United States in the early nineteen hundreds.

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<v Speaker 1>These games of skill or chance were often exasperatingly difficult,

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<v Speaker 1>and most people failed to win a prize. Such games

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<v Speaker 1>are still a feature of fairs today. Think of ring

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<v Speaker 1>tosses that never seemed to land, or basketball hoops that

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<v Speaker 1>spit out every ball thrown their way. When cigars were

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<v Speaker 1>the prizes. After a participant failed, a carnival barker or

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<v Speaker 1>the game runner might shout close but no cigar. The

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<v Speaker 1>phrase close but no Cigar appeared in the script for

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen thirty five film Annie Oakley, but there were

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<v Speaker 1>earlier recorded uses, both in sports reporting and in national

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<v Speaker 1>geographic magazine. No matter who printed it first, it seems

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<v Speaker 1>that the phrase traveled quickly through the American vernacular because

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<v Speaker 1>of the way that carnivals moved from place to place.

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<v Speaker 1>In an article for the magazine Cigar Ficionado, the editor

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<v Speaker 1>of the Yale Book of Quotations, wrote that the game

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<v Speaker 1>in question was specifically one of those games of strength

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<v Speaker 1>called the high ball or high striker, where the player

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<v Speaker 1>uses a large hammer to strike a lever and send

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<v Speaker 1>a weight to high enough up a column to ring

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<v Speaker 1>a bell at the top. But it seems that several

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<v Speaker 1>different games might have inspired the phrase, and in other

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<v Speaker 1>countries as well. In nineteen oh two, a book called

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<v Speaker 1>The Night Side of London described many social scenes and

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<v Speaker 1>entertainments throughout Bustling Edwardy in London, including a traveling carnival

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<v Speaker 1>with games to play. A quote another penny gives you

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<v Speaker 1>the privilege of trying to roll three balls into certain

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<v Speaker 1>holes with numbers attached there on two. Should you score twenty,

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<v Speaker 1>you will win a cigar, but you do no more

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<v Speaker 1>than score nine. Undiscouraged or perhaps encouraged by this fact,

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<v Speaker 1>you spend another penny, and another and another, but you

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<v Speaker 1>don't get the cigar. And it is well for you

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<v Speaker 1>that you don't, for there are cigars and cigars on

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<v Speaker 1>you go, and next you try your hand at the coconuts,

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<v Speaker 1>or the skittles, or the clay pipes, or in the

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<v Speaker 1>shooting alleys, and so on and on until your stock

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<v Speaker 1>of pennies and patience is exhausted. Cigars are no longer

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<v Speaker 1>offered as prizes to carnival goers, though these days we

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<v Speaker 1>have to settle for oversized stuffed animals or the like.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article why do we

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<v Speaker 1>say close but no Cigar? On HowStuffWorks dot Com, written

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<v Speaker 1>by Nathan Chandler. Brain Stuff is production of by Heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio in partnership with hostuffwork dot Com and is produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

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<v Speaker 1>to your favorite shows.