冰冻三尺，非一日之寒

Traditional form:

冰凍三尺，非一日之寒

Pinyin (reading):

bīngdòngsānchǐ,fēiyīrìzhīhán

Definitions:

• three feet of ice does not form in a single day (idiom); Rome wasn't built in a day

Characters:

• 冰 - ice; ice-cold
• 冻 - cold; to freeze, to congeal; jelly
• 三 - three
• 尺 - ruler, tape-measure; unit of length, about 1 ft.
• 非 - not, negative, non-; to oppose
• 一 - one; a, an; alone
• 日 - sun; day; daytime
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 寒 - chilly, cold; poor; to shiver, to tremble

Traditional characters:

• 冰 - ice; ice-cold
• 凍 - cold; to freeze, to congeal; jelly
• 三 - three
• 尺 - ruler, tape-measure; unit of length, about 1 ft.
• 非 - not, negative, non-; to oppose
• 一 - one; a, an; alone
• 日 - sun; day; daytime
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 寒 - chilly, cold; poor; to shiver, to tremble