驢年馬月
See also: 驴年马月
Chinese
| donkey | year | horse; surname | moon; month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (驢年馬月) | 驢 | 年 | 馬 | 月 | |
| simp. (驴年马月) | 驴 | 年 | 马 | 月 | |
| Literally: “donkey year, horse month”. | |||||
Etymology
Donkey does not exist in the Chinese zodiac system and therefore this idiom means "never".
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Pinyin): lǘniánmǎyuè
- (Zhuyin): ㄌㄩˊ ㄋㄧㄢˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄩㄝˋ
- Cantonese (Jyutping): leoi4 nin4 maa5 jyut6
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: lǘniánmǎyuè
- Zhuyin: ㄌㄩˊ ㄋㄧㄢˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄩㄝˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: lyúniánmǎyuè
- Wade–Giles: lü2-nien2-ma3-yüeh4
- Yale: lyú-nyán-mǎ-ywè
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: liunianmaayueh
- Palladius: люйняньмаюэ (ljujnjanʹmajue)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ly³⁵ ni̯ɛn³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɥɛ⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: lǘrniánmǎyuè
- Zhuyin: ㄌㄩˊㄦ ㄋㄧㄢˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄩㄝˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: lyúrniánmǎyuè
- Wade–Giles: lü2-ʼrh-nien2-ma3-yüeh4
- Yale: lyúr-nyán-mǎ-ywè
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: liuelnianmaayueh
- Palladius: люйрняньмаюэ (ljujrnjanʹmajue)
- Sinological IPA (key): /lyə̯ɻ³⁵ ni̯ɛn³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɥɛ⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: leoi4 nin4 maa5 jyut6
- Yale: lèuih nìhn máh yuht
- Cantonese Pinyin: loey4 nin4 maa5 jyt9
- Guangdong Romanization: lêu4 nin4 ma5 yud6
- Sinological IPA (key): /lɵy̯²¹ niːn²¹ maː¹³ jyːt̚²/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
驢年馬月
- time that will never come; impossible date; the remote future; God knows when; an unknown and long time; donkey's years