Far cry from
Meaning
Something is significantly different from or inferior or superior to something else.
Origin
The phrase "a far cry from" originates from a time when the human voice was a primary, practical measure of distance. Before modern communication, if something was "a far cry," it meant it was so remote that even the loudest shout wouldn't carry, rendering communication impossible and the two points immensely separated. This literal measurement of auditory range and separation began to evolve in the 19th century. The tangible distance of an unheard shout transformed into a potent metaphor for significant disparity, describing anything vastly different or profoundly removed in quality, character, or expectation. The physical space dissolved, but the core image of an unbridgeable gap, impossible to span even with a desperate shout, remained, embedding itself in our language to denote stark contrasts.
Examples
- The new electric car is a far cry from the noisy, gas-guzzling sedan I used to drive.
- Her latest novel, though well-received, is still a far cry from the groundbreaking work of her early career.