Let's have some new clichés.
― Samuel Goldwyn
The cliché Close, but no cigar stems from late 19th-century carnivals.
Losers won only the wheel operator's condolence: "Close, but no cigar!"
An inveterate loser at the game might very well get the cold shoulder from his girlfriend.
The cliché stems from early 19th-century dinner parties.
A guest who overstayed his welcome at a dinner party would be served a cut of shoulder meat—the toughest part of the animal—cold.
Being served the "cold shoulder" was a strong hint: it's time you left.
But sometimes the hint wasn't strong enough.
Especially if the guest was a smart aleck.
Another cliché with early 19th-century origins, "Smart Aleck" was the nickname the New York City cops gave Aleck Hoag, a fraudster who bilked men while they consorted with his accomplice and wife, who would pose as a prostitute.
Aleck earned the nickname "smart" when he started bragging he would no longer bribe the cops to escape arrest.
