📖 Meaning
Literally 'there are years but no months.' It describes something that drags on for a very long time with no definite deadline or end in sight. Used for tasks, projects, or waits that stretch out indefinitely.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase appears in Cai Dongfan's historical novel 'Popular Romance of the Later Han' (后汉演义), written in the early Republican era, which recounts the history of the Eastern Han. In the second chapter, describing the last years of the Western Han under Wang Mang's oppressive rule, the common people feared being conscripted as soldiers and dreaded having to transport grain. Boatmen and carters were paid so little that they all hung back, unwilling to work. As a result, the labor project dragged on with no set completion date, hence '有年无月，不能成事.'
💡 Example Usage
这座桥修了三年还没完工，照这进度真是有年无月。
The bridge has been under construction for three years and is still not finished; at this pace, there's no end in sight.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 有年无月
- Pinyin: yǒu nián wú yuè
- Literal Translation: have, year, no, month
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4