Chinese phrase: 打水漂 (dǎ shuǐ piāo)

"打水漂" (dǎ shuǐ piāo), stone skipping in English, is one of the oldest games. The player throws a flat stone or tile across water in such a way that it bounces off the surface due to the inertia, preferably many times. The object of the game is to see how many times a stone or a tile can bounce before sinking. Later, it also indicates the effort made is not functioning, and the results expected are not achieved at last. Besides, the money or the time is spent in vain.

“打水漂”是一种古老的游戏。用扁型瓦片或石片，在手上呈水平放置后，用力飞出，石片擦水面飞行，石片碰水面后因惯力原理遇水面再弹起再飞，石片不断在水面上向前弹跳，直至惯力用尽后沉水。这个游戏的目的是要看石片在沉水前能弹跳几次。后来，也用来指人们做某事所花费的钱或时间等都没有起作用，最后没有得到想要的东西，而且所花费的钱和时间也回不来了。

Examples:

1. Wǒ huā le hǎo jǐwàn mǎi de shǒubiǎo méi yòng duōjiǔ jiù huàile, jǐwàn kuài qián jiù zhèyàng dǎle shuǐ piāo.

我花了几万买的手表没用多久就坏了，几万块钱就这样打了水漂。

The watch didn't work shortly after I bought it. More than ten thousands yuan was spent in vain.

2. Wǒ qiánnián jiè gěi tā de qián dào xiànzài hái méihuán,zhèxiē qián gūjì yào dǎ shuǐ piāo le.

我前年借给他的钱到现在还没还，这些钱估计要打水漂了。

The money I lent him two years ago has not been returned yet. I think he would never pay it back.

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