• Bitrot@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      That’s a fun little language nuance. Narrowly or barely would be better, physically describing the distance of the miss is uncommon.

      It was a near miss though, as in “close call”.

      • Rodeo@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        The nuance is that “near miss” and “nearly miss” mean exact opposites.

        “Near miss” means it almost hits, but actually misses.

        “Nearly miss” means it almost misses, but it actually hits.

        They just messed up the phrase.