“Close but no cigar” 可不是 “接近但没雪茄” 的意思!
不少小伙伴看到 “Close but no cigar” 这个表达可能会直接按字面理解,
“close” 是接近,“cigar” 是雪茄,直译就是 “接近但没雪茄”,很奇怪!
但实际上它是什么意思呢?先来听一下它的英文解释:
'Close but no cigar' means that someone nearly succeeded or was almost correct, but ultimately failed or missed the goal by a small margin.
“接近但没雪茄” 是指某人几乎成功或几乎正确,但最终差一点就失败了或没达到目标。
这个短语起源来自旧时的嘉年华游戏:赢家奖品常常是雪茄,
如果你差一点赢了,摊主就会说 “Close, but no cigar”,意思是你很接近,但没奖品。
所以引申为 “差一点就成功了,但最终还是失败了”。
适用于比赛、考试、面试、猜测、尝试等场景,语气略带惋惜或调侃。
“Close but no cigar” 翻译成中文可以是:
差一点就成功了、几乎对了、功亏一篑、接近但没中、功败垂成。
例句:
His answer was close but no cigar – he got the right idea but missed the key detail.
他的答案差一点就对了——大方向对,但漏掉了关键细节。
The team lost 2-3. It was close but no cigar for them.
球队2比3输了,功亏一篑。
原声再现
So, there we go. If someone almost succeeds, but doesn't quite, we can say to them, "Close, but no cigar."
好了。如果有人差一点就成功了,但没有完全成功,我们就可以对他们说:“差点就成功了(但还是没成)。”
It was close, but no cigar for the Dodgers, as they lost to the Reds 4–3.
道奇队差一点就赢了,但还是功亏一篑,他们以 3 比 4 输给了红人队。
After school, could we possibly hang out…
放学后,我们能出去……
Oh, I – I'm gonna be late, so I'll talk to you later?
哦,我——我要迟到了,晚点再跟你说?
Close, but no cigar, pal. Nice try.
差一点就成功了,哥们。不过还是没成。不错的尝试。
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