close enough for government work—(U.S. ironic) is used to reflect one’s low opinion of the end result, quality of a product, etc.:
- For decades, the East German public was damned with merchandise that was “close enough for government work.”
close enough for jazz—is used to say that while smth. is not perfect, it is close enough in quality to the target to be acceptable:
- The data may not be totally accurate, but it is close enough for jazz. We trust it.
Note: Neither expression correlates in meaning with the phrase close but no cigar—used of a situation when one falls just short of a successful outcome:
- In my last rejection the editor told me that this particular piece was “close but no cigar.”