Nearly never bulled a cow

exp.

Heard in Meath and Limerick

Close but no cigar. An expression indicating that near success still amounts to complete failure.

He may well have nearly scored but nearly never bulled a cow.

Posh English

He very nearly scored, I grant you, but very nearly has never once impregnated a heifer.

Related terms

• Ye never saw a cow shit an' didn't long fir a pancakeSaid when someone sees someone else with something and wants it for themselves.
• De one eye'd nearly do herUsed of a woman so thin that one eye would nearly suffice to take her in.
• Pane where I never had a windaTo cause intense irritation or pain in a place one never knew one possessed.
• Yer naaten and ya'll never be eentinYou are nothing and you will never amount to anything.
• Ya never lost idYou have not lost your touch. Still the same as ever.
• Bull, bullin, bulledSlang used by countrymen / construction workers to describe the act of copulation.