[Ads-l] "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades."
Jonathan Lighter
00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Fri Oct 31 19:31:09 UTC 2025
Earlier:
1964 _Columbus [O.] Dispatch_ (Dec. 31) 10A [GenealogyBank]: Close only
counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
1965 _Elwood [Ind.] Call-Leader_ (Dec. 4) 6 [Newspapers.com]: But like they
say - close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
JL
On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 10:23 AM W Brewer <brewerwa at gmail.com> wrote:
> << Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. >>
> As I recall, my first recollection of the expression was on an Army rifle
> range, c. 1968, where the goal was the winning of marksmanship badges. I
> daresay that must have been the originating context.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
--
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