八字没一撇

八字沒一撇
bāzìméiyīpiě
  1. lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八 bā (idiom)
  2. fig. things have not even begun to take shape
  3. no sign of success yet

CEDICT

nothing tangible in sight; things have not even begun to take shape; there's not the slightest sign of success yet

Wiktionary

Entry Composition

1 八字 bāzì
  1. the character 8 or 八
  2. birthdate characters used in fortune-telling
2 没 méi (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not
3 一 yī
  1. one
  2. single
  3. a (article)
  4. as soon as
  5. entire; whole; all; throughout
  6. "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1)
  7. also pr. yāo for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit
4 撇 piě
  1. to throw
  2. to cast
  3. left-slanting downward brush stroke (calligraphy)

Related entries

八字还没一撇儿 bāzìháiméiyīpiěr
  1. lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八 bā (idiom)
  2. fig. things have not even begun to take shape
  3. no sign of success yet