Today's Broadcast

Topic: Near miss

Our recent program on could care less reminded a listener of his own dissatisfaction with the phrase near miss; our correspondent pointed out that in Afrikaans, his native language, near miss translates as "near hit." Since a near miss—meaning "near collision" or "close call," a "narrow escape"—is in fact a hit, not a miss, why call it by this illogical name?

We can offer at least two explanations. First, idioms are by definition not logical. Second, the adjective near has a well-established sense meaning "close"; "narrow," so that near miss can certainly be understood as a hit that only barely missed.  

We can also look at the history. Near miss dates back to the second world war era. Originally, that term described a bomb that had exploded in the water near enough to a ship to damage it: a near miss was a miss close enough to cause damage. After the war, the impact of near miss broadened. It developed different associations, naming such things as narrowly avoided collisions and narrow escapes. Over the past half century or so, near miss has also developed a figurative application naming "something that falls just short of success."

So should the careful speaker or writer avoid using the phrase near miss? Not at all. Except for people working in the aviation industry, where near collision is the preferred term, most people (including usage commentators) accept that near miss is a hit. 

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