猴年馬月

Chinese

		monkey	year	horse; surname	moon; month
trad. (猴年馬月)		猴	年	馬	月
simp. (猴年马月)		猴	年	马	月
Literally: “monkey year, horse month”.

Etymology

From 驢年馬月／驴年马月 (lǘniánmǎyuè, “year of the donkey (in the Zodiac); God knows when”).

Alternatively, from dialectal 何年嘛月 (“what year, what month?”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hóuniánmǎyuè

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄡˊ ㄋㄧㄢˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄩㄝˋ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hóuniánmǎyuè
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄡˊ ㄋㄧㄢˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄩㄝˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hóuniánmǎyuè
    • Wade–Giles: hou²-nien²-ma³-yüeh⁴
    • Yale: hóu-nyán-mǎ-ywè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hournianmaayueh
    • Palladius: хоуняньмаюэ (xounjanʹmajue)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xoʊ̯³⁵ ni̯ɛn³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɥɛ⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hóurniánmǎyuè
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄡˊㄦ ㄋㄧㄢˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄩㄝˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hóurniánmǎyuè
    • Wade–Giles: hou²-ʼrh-nien²-ma³-yüeh⁴
    • Yale: hóur-nyán-mǎ-ywè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hourlnianmaayueh
    • Palladius: хоурняньмаюэ (xournjanʹmajue)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xɤʊ̯ɻʷ³⁵ ni̯ɛn³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɥɛ⁵¹/

Idiom

猴年馬月

1. an unknown and long time; donkey's years; God knows when

   等到猴年馬月／等到猴年马月  ―  děng dào hóuniánmǎyuè  ―  wait for donkey's years