Are we already close to knowing who the next Grand Slam champion will be?
But he added: "I think I'm close to knowing which direction I want to go with it.
"If you know how tall trees are, and how many you have, then you're very close to knowing what the carbon stock is," he said.
I still didn't get that close to knowing who she is.
"We're very close to knowing the team we want," says Collingwood.
As the research moves along, the scientists grow more modest about what we are close to knowing and achieving.
"I haven't got major input on teams but we're very close to knowing our plan for Bangladesh.
"By the end of this tour we should be close to knowing 25 of the 30 players who will go to the World Cup".
Nor, despite Canavero's assertions to the contrary, is medicine anywhere close to knowing how to use stem cells or growth factors to make this happen.
He seems to endlessly reveal himself and yet, in the end, are we any closer to knowing him?
The winner of the 2005 award was also switched from Tate – who had polled the most votes – in favour of Ant and Dec. Despite an investigation, Ofcom said it was no closer to knowing why it had occurred, saying it was "frustrated" by the lack of co-operation it had received.
