八字还没一撇儿

bā zì hái méi yī piě r

lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八[ba1] (idiom)

fig. things have not even begun to take shape; no sign of success yet

八

bā

eight

字

zì

letter

还

hái

still

没

méi

(negative prefix for verbs) have not; not

一

yī

one

撇

piě

to throw

儿

r

non-syllabic diminutive suffix