泡汤   fall flat
【注音】pào tāng
【解释】北方话还可以说“黄了”，也就是事情落空了，没有指望了。
There’s another expression in northern dialect——huang le，which means the same：something fall through or becomes hopeless。
【例子】
例：他说要研究研究，就是说我们的事情要泡汤了。
Ex.：He said that they would discuss it，but the hidden message is that it’s going to fall through。
碰钉子   meet with a rebuff
【注音】pèng dīngzi
【例子】
例：周医生下岗以后，去了好几个医院找工作都碰了钉子。
Ex.：After being laid-off, Doctor Zhou has tried a number of hospitals for employment, but all met with rebuff.