八字没一撇八字没见一撇bā zì méi yī piě

not even the first stroke of the character “八” is in sight—there is not the slightest sign of anything happening yet (/of success yet); things aren’t even starting to take shape yet
❍ 有的说，我们是来保卫延安的，八字没见一撇，延安就能放弃？ (杜鹏程《保卫延安》30) Others said we’ve come to defend Yanan; how could it be given up without even giving us a chance to get into action?

• dark
• dark
• darken
• Darkey
• Darkie
• Darky
• darling
• darn
• darn
• dart
• dart
• dash
• dash
• dastard
• data
• date
• date
• date
• dative
• datum
• daub
• daughter
• daunt
• dauntless
• dauphin