What is the origin of the phrase “Nice try, but no cigar!”?
I believe the term is “Close, but no cigar.” Here’s my theory: In carney games you would perform an act of skill, such as tossing a ring over a milk bottle. If you almost make it, but not quite, you don’t get the prize, which often was a cigar.
This practice is probably also the source of the saying that someone who successfully guesses an answer or performs a task is entitled to “a choice of cigar or coconut”. Why they handed out coconuts as carnival prizes I could not say.
I’ve only seen that in stories by P.G. Wodehouse.
I suppose coconuts were regarded as an exotic treat at the time of those stories. Besides, they had to have something for people who didn’t smoke.
I agree that the one which makes the most sense is the sledgehammer game, in part because it is common for the weight to get very nearly to the top but not quite ring the bell and win the prize.
And I always thought it referred to a pregnancy scare 
My late father, born in the early 20th century, is another vote for the hammer-and-bell game. The barker would tempt a wiry little guy, and the barker would stand on a pedal to tighten the wire. With the tight wire, the little guy (who was sometimes a shill,) hit the bell, and he strutted away with a cigar. Then a big guy would waste a lot of money trying to ring the bell, all the time drawing the barker’s taunts (Close, pal, but no see-gar! Is that all you got, bub?), and the crowd’s mocking laughter. Finally, he got the pedal and the cigar.
After a couple more macho guys shelled out, and the crowd thinned, the cycle started again. There’s no shortage of suckers. :rolleyes:
The Word Detective says:
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar </freud>
In England, any fair or fete worth the name will have a coconut shy, so coconuts would be something they had a supply of on hand.
just quick “I was wondering this too, just the other day”
…and a check to see my member status also.
so it’s not a reference to Monica Lewinsky then ? :smack:
I’ll take “Linda Tripp’s Phonecall Outtakes” for $500, Alex.
In Spain we say “¡no hay premio!” (no prize) when someone drops something fragile but it doesn’t break; “¡premio!” (prize) when it does break, with occasional comentary about how big the prize is, ladies and gentlemen, the gorgeous lady here has won a large, large, laaaaaarge Papa Smurf that will keep her company when the husband isn’t home and who said women can’t shoot, laaaaaa-dies and gentle-men! It comes from the shooting games in carnivals.
When I first encountered “close but no cigar” I figured it was something similar…