Meaning:  

    “烂” means “rot,” and “尾” means “ending.” The term was previously only used to describe unfinished real estate projects which have stopped construction for more than a year, often due to a lack of funds. We call these buildings “烂尾楼.” Now the phrase is often used as a verb by netizens to refer to novels, comics published online or TV shows which have a good beginning but a hasty and unsatisfying ending, leaving lots of questions unanswered. 

    Example:

    A: 你还在追那部小说吗？

    Nǐ háizài zhuī nàbù xiǎoshuō ma？

    Are you still following that online novel?

    B: 看完了，但是很失望。

    Kàn wán le，dànshì hěn shīwàng。

    I finished reading it, but was disappointed.

    A: 为什么？

    Wèishíme？

    Why?

    B: 因为作者把所有人物全写死，省力又赚眼泪，实际

    很烂尾。

    Yīnwéi zuòzhě bǎ suǒyǒu rénwù quán xiě sǐ，shěnglì yòu zuàn yǎnlèi，shíjì hěn lànwěi。

    Because the author let all his characters die. It’s a lazy move to turn the story into a tearjerker, which is in fact a bad ending.