一事無成

to have achieved nothing / to be a total failure / to get nowhere

one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire; whole; all; throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

matter / thing / item / work / affair / CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1],回[hui2]

not to have / no / none / not / to lack / un- / -less

achieving nothing

surname Cheng

to succeed / to finish / to complete / to accomplish / to become / to turn into / to be all right / OK! / one tenth