barren vs no dice

barren

adj
  • Unable to bear children; sterile. 

  • Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation. 

  • Mentally dull; stupid. 

  • Bleak. 

  • Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty. 

noun
  • An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place. 

no dice

phrase
  • An unfavorable result. 

  • An unacceptable alternative. 

  • Used to express a negative outcome or decision 

How often have the words barren and no dice occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )