「尚未開始；八字還沒一撇」的英文: a gleam in one’s eye

a gleam in one’s eye 尚未開始；八字還沒一撇

gleam是「微光」的意思，a gleam in one's eye可以用來比喻人開心喜悅的表情，另外還可以用來表示某事或計畫還在構思階段，尚未形成。

• The product is still only a gleam in an engineer's eye. 產品還在工程師的腦袋構思當中。
• Moving walkways have been a gleam in the eye of town planners for some time. 遷移人行道這事在 城市規劃師腦袋中構思已久。

when was a (mere) gleam/ twinkle in father's eye: 在尚未出世的時；在出生前

twinkle是閃爍、閃耀，指一個人在當時不過是父親在追求母親時，眼裡閃爍的光，這是一種幽默的說法，表示那個人在當時還沒出生，尤其是指那個人媽媽的肚子裡都還沒懷孕。所以要談論某人出生前的事時，可以用這個片語。

• When I was your age you weren't even a twinkle in your father's eye. 當我在你那個年紀時，你根本還沒出生。
• In 1956, I wasn’t even close to being a gleam in my father’s eye. 1956年我都還不在媽媽肚子裡。
• This was before I was “a twinkle in my daddy's eye. 這件事發生時，我都還不在媽媽肚子裡。
• I never knew my grandparents; they died when I was a twinkle in my father's eye. 我對我祖父母所知不多，他們在我出生前就過世了。
• You were not even a gleam in your mother's eye when that photo was taken. 拍那張照片時，你媽媽的肚子都還沒有你。