目不識丁
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See also: 目不识丁
Chinese[edit]
eye; item; section eye; item; section; list; catalogue; table of contents; (taxonomy) order; goal; name; title |
to fail to see; not to know; not to appreciate | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (目不識丁) | 目 | 不識 | 丁 | |
simp. (目不识丁) | 目 | 不识 | 丁 | |
Literally: “One's eyes don't know the character 丁.” |
Etymology[edit]
According to the Old Book of Tang, the Tang-dynasty official Zhang Hongjing once scornfully said to his soldiers:
- 「……今天下無事,汝輩挽得兩石力弓,不如識一丁字。」 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Old Book of Tang, 945 CE
- “...... Jīn tiānxià wúshì, rǔbèi wǎn dé liǎng dàn lì gōng, bùrú shí yī dīng zì.” [Pinyin]
- “ […] Now that the world is in peace, although you all are able to draw a bow that takes two dan [a unit of measure] of force to be drawn, that is not as good as being able to read the simplest characters like 丁.”
「……今天下无事,汝辈挽得两石力弓,不如识一丁字。」 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation[edit]
Idiom[edit]
目不識丁
- (derogatory) to not even know the most basic characters; to be densely illiterate
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