不识一丁 — “To be completely illiterate”
不识一丁 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be completely illiterate”. Not to know a single character. Literally, “Not recognize a single character (specifically, the character '丁')”.
不识一丁 Pronunciation and Pinyin
- 不bù
- 识shí
- 一yī
- 丁dīng
不识一丁 Character Breakdown
Example Sentence with 不识一丁
Origin and Story of 不识一丁
The idiom '不识一丁' (bù shí yī dīng) traces its origin back to the Tang Dynasty.
Zhang Hongjing, a military governor of Youzhou, had two subordinates named Wei Yong and Zhang Zonghou. They frequently socialized and drank together. During that period, the realm enjoyed peace, and there were no skirmishes along the borders, leaving the soldiers with ample leisure time.
They would often express their sentiments, saying, 'In such peaceful times, the pursuit of martial arts is not as beneficial as the study of literature. Even the ability to draw a two-stone bow is not as valuable as knowing a single character.'
Over time, the idiom evolved, likely influenced by the visual and phonetic resemblance between the character '个' (ge) and '丁' (ding), eventually coming to signify complete illiteracy or the inability to recognize even the simplest character.
Idioms Related to 不识一丁
Synonyms of 不识一丁
Antonyms of 不识一丁
More idioms starting with 不
- bù不yī一ér而zú足numerous and varied, impossible to list all
- bù不sān三bù不sì四improper or disreputable
- bù不shàng上bù不xià下stuck in an awkward position
- bù不shàng上bù不luò落in an awkward or embarrassing situation
- bù不shì世zhī之yè业unparalleled achievements
- bù不shì世zhī之chóu仇unrivaled enmity
- bù不shì世zhī之gōng功unparalleled achievement
- bù不shì世zhī之lüè略unparalleled strategy
- bù不sàng丧bǐ匕chàng鬯peace and order, rituals undisturbed
- bù不fēng丰bù不jiǎn俭neither extravagant nor frugal
- bù不fēng丰bù不shā杀neither extravagant nor frugal
- bù不wèi为wǔ五dǒu斗mǐ米zhé折yāo腰Refuse to compromise integrity for meager gain
Questions about 不识一丁
- What does 不识一丁 mean?
- 不识一丁 (bù shí yī dīng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be completely illiterate”.
- How do you pronounce 不识一丁?
- 不识一丁 is pronounced bù shí yī dīng in Mandarin Chinese.
- What does 不识一丁 literally mean?
- Literally, 不识一丁 means “not recognize a single character (specifically, the character '丁')”. It is used to mean “to be completely illiterate”.
- Where does 不识一丁 come from?
- 不识一丁 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
- What is the Chinese definition of 不识一丁?
- 形容一个字也不认识。