Chinese Metaphor 八字沒見一撇
The general idea for this idiom is that there's no guarantee for (whatever matter you are referring to) to come to fruition yet, likely whatever it was hasn't even been started. No way. Another way of saying this in Chinese is "(事情)还没有眉目"

The character 八 (eight) is written with 2 strokes, the first one is 撇 (to the left), and the second one is 捺 (to the right). Think about it this way: for a character with two strokes, the first stroke hasn't be written.

Colloquially, you may also see the idiom written as 八字沒一撇

I found an article on BaiDu that goes into the origins of the idiom (http://baike.baidu.com/view/2005439.htm)

I have included my translations about the origins part (see BaiDu for original text)
The original idiom actual refers to the possible engagement between a man and woman. When the couple gets introduced to each other, a fortune teller is invited to see if their birth time/day/month/year (八字) will be harmonious with each other. This is called 发八字. If they are deemed to be compatible/harmonious, the man and woman will officially become engaged. Of course, these terms are not used today.