Zhège xiàngmù hào le sān nián, zuìzhōng shòuzhōng-zhèngqǐn.
After dragging on for three years, the project quietly died a natural death.
Tips
culture
Traditionally a respectful, even auspicious way to describe death - old age, at home, properly attended. Modern figurative use (for dead projects or gadgets) is darkly humorous.
history
Recorded in the Ming novel 《封神演义》, contrasting an honorable end at home with a violent or shameful death.
