猴年马月
hóu nián mǎ yuè
who knows when; a day that may never come
Character by character
猴hóu
monkey
monkey
年nián
year
year
马mǎ
horse
horse
月yuè
month
month
Example
照这个速度，房子得装修到猴年马月啊？
At this rate, when on earth will the renovation be finished?
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
An older form is 驴年马月: there is no year of the donkey, so it meant never. Monkey years do contain a horse month, which the press had fun with in 2016.
Learn this in Lesson 214 · HSK 9+: 生肖与干支 (The zodiac and the sixty-year cycle)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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