Back Out and Close, But No Cigar.

Today's phrasal verb is Back Out (Of), which has two meanings:
1-To fail to keep an arrangement or promise;  to withdraw from a previous commitment

He backed out of going to concert  two days before the show so we gave the ticket to his sister
The buyer backed out before the papers were signed.

2-To go backward: to move out backward, or cause something to move out backward; to exit a parking area in reverse gear;

She backed the BMW out of its parking space.
He backed out of the overcrowded elevator, realizing that he wouldn't fit. 

Some days are harder than others to back your car out.

Notes:  Definition 1 is intransitive and inseparable and Definition 2 is both transitive and intransitive and separable.  Synonyms for Definition 1:  pull out, withdraw, renege, go back on, cancel, change your mind, drop out, call off, beg off, cry off, fink out.  Synonym for Definition: back up, move in reverse.

Today's idiom is Close, But No Cigar, which means:
Fall just short of a successful outcome and get nothing or very little for your efforts. Something that you say to someone if what they tell you or what they do is nearly correct but not completely  Jill: How did you do in the contest? Jane: Close, but no cigar. I got second place. Jack: "Is his name Howard?" Jill:"Close, but no cigar. It's Harold." Close, but no cigar, old boy. Notes: The phrase, and its variant 'nice try, but no cigar', are of US origin and date from the mid-20th century. Fairground stalls gave out cigars as prizes,