[PW] Re: Cigar Sayings

[Shaw, Matthew M]

This site
 
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/close-but-no-cigar.html
 
says:
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!"

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'. 

I am not sure of the authority of the sourse but you can read more at:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/about-us.html

 
Matt Shaw
Forsyth County Public Library
660 West Fifth Street 
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 703-2978

________________________________

From: project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org on behalf of Fred Shapiro
Sent: Fri 1/5/2007 10:33 AM
To: list at project-wombat.org
Subject: [PW] Cigar Sayings




1. Close, But No Cigar

Can anyone refer me to any dictionaries, books, articles, or websites that have
any kind of discussion of the derivation of this expression?

2. Other Cigar Sayings

I would be interested in suggestions of other quotations, sayings or phrases
related to cigars.  I know, of course, about the Freud quote, the Groucho Marx
line about taking his cigar out of his mouth once in a while, the Kipling
quote, the Mark Twain quote about smoking only one cigar at a time, and the
quote, supposedly originated by Thomas Marshall, about a good 5 cent cigar.

Fred Shapiro


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