八字还没一撇 bāzìháiméiyīpiě things have not even started yet Origin Definitions Defs Strokes Stroke Words Sentences Sents 八字还没一撇儿 bāzìháiméiyīpiěr not even begun to take shape Literally "there is not even the first stroke of the character [[八|八|ba1]]"; describes a situation where things have not even started to happen or there is no sign of progress yet.