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

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• 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/
• 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/

Idiom

驢年馬月

1. time that will never come; impossible date; the remote future; God knows when; an unknown and long time; donkey's years

Synonyms

• 猴年馬月／猴年马月 (hóuniánmǎyuè)