有意栽花花不发
yǒu​yì​zāi​huā​huā​bù​fā

effort without reward

  • created sense approved 有意栽花花不发/有意栽花花不發 · yǒu​yì​zāi​huā​huā​bù​fā · effort without reward — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    有意栽花花不发 / 有意栽花花不發

    yǒu​yì​zāi​huā​huā​bù​fā

    effort without reward

    to plant flowers with intent but the flowers do not bloom; describes a situation where careful effort and planning fail to produce the desired outcome

    有意 (literal) → 有意 · yǒu​yì · to intend 栽花 (literal) → 栽花 · zāi​huā · to grow flowers 花 (literal) → 花 · huā · flower 不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 发 (literal) → 发/發 · fā · to develop

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense