I was wondering about the origin of some of these sayings we use everyday. And the fact that, at least in the US, they are universally known. For example this jewel, “Close, but no cigar” I suspected had some origin at a carnival, but this site traces when the phrase was actually recorded in print or media. Seems we can thank screen writers for this one, which would make it’s ubiquity understandable.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/close-but-no-cigar.html
Here’s another site that discusses word origins.