near miss

"Wow! That was a near miss!" I'm not exactly sure how that can be. I understand the premise. It's supposed to mean a "close call."

The problem I have with this is if it's a miss, it's a miss. Does it really matter if the miss was near, far, or anything else? The fact remains it's a miss. . .plain and simple.

Wouldn't it be better to say "near hit"? I mean, you almost hit it, but you didn't almost miss it. You missed it!

Next time you have a close call, do me a favor and call it a "near hit." Together we can make the language purists proud. Everyone will thank you for it.