泥牛入海

泥牛入海

Literally means:

an earthen ox falling into the sea

Actually means:

once gone is gone; gone forever

The original phrase is 泥牛入海, 有去无回, meaning when a cow made out of clay falls into the East Sea, it will dissolve in water and will never return.

It figuratively means once someone leaves, he can never return or people lose all contact with him. It also means one gets no reward from what.he has done, or what he has done does not work.

原句为“泥牛入海，有去无回”。泥土做的牛进入了东海，被海水融化了。

比喻人去了就没有任何消息或不回来了。也比喻所办的事没有得到回应，或者不起作用。