WHY DO WE SAY "NEAR MISS" WHEN THEY'RE REALLY A "NEAR HIT": because there are many types of misses. you can miss something by a little ("a near miss") or by a lot ("a far miss"). if you DON'T want to be hitting something, a near miss is obviously more dangerous than a far one. in contrast, when dealing with bombs, a "near miss" of a target is better than a far miss because while you didn't hit the mark, it may have still been damaged by the explosion.