一无所知 yī wú suǒ zhī Know nothing

Explanation

形容对某件事物或某项知识完全不懂。

Describes someone who knows absolutely nothing about something.

Origin Story

在一个偏远的小村庄里，住着一位名叫李大伯的老人。他一生都在田间劳作，对外面的世界一无所知。有一天，村里来了一个外地商人，他带着许多稀奇古怪的东西，吸引了村民们的注意。李大伯也很好奇地凑过去看，但商人说的话他一句也听不懂。商人见他一无所知的样子，就笑着问他：“老人家，你见过火车吗？”李大伯摇了摇头，商人又问：“你知道地球是圆的吗？”李大伯再次摇了摇头。商人见他真是“一无所知”，就说：“老人家，你真是与世隔绝了，外面的世界变化可大了，你应该多出去走走，开开眼界。”李大伯听了商人的话，心里感到有些惭愧，但他还是笑着说：“外面的世界再怎么变化，我还是喜欢我的田地，喜欢我熟悉的村庄。”商人笑了笑，不再说什么，转身离开了。李大伯看着商人远去的背影，心里却在想：外面的世界到底是什么样子呢？

zài yī ge piān yuǎn de xiǎo cūn zhuāng lǐ, zhù zhe yī wèi míng jiào lǐ dà bó de lǎo rén. tā yī shēng dōu zài tián jiān láo zuò, duì wài miàn de shì jiè yī wú suǒ zhī. yǒu yī tiān, cūn lǐ lái le yī ge wài dì shāng rén, tā dài zhe xǔ duō xī qí gǔ guài de dōng xi, xī yǐn le cūn mín men de zhù yì. lǐ dà bó yě hěn hào qí de còu guò qù kàn, dàn shāng rén shuō de huà tā yī jù yě tīng bù dǒng. shāng rén jiàn tā yī wú suǒ zhī de yàng zi, jiù xiào zhe wèn tā：“lǎo rén jiā, nǐ jiàn guò huǒ chē ma？” lǐ dà bó yáo le yáo tóu, shāng rén yòu wèn：“nǐ zhī dào dì qiú shì yuán de ma？” lǐ dà bó zài cì yáo le yáo tóu. shāng rén jiàn tā zhēn shì “yī wú suǒ zhī”, jiù shuō：“lǎo rén jiā, nǐ zhēn shì yǔ shì gé jué le, wài miàn de shì jiè biàn huà kě dà le, nǐ yīng gāi duō chū qù zǒu zǒu, kāi kāi yǎn jiè.” lǐ dà bó tīng le shāng rén de huà, xīn lǐ gǎn dào yǒu xiē cán kuì, dàn tā hái shì xiào zhe shuō：“wài miàn de shì jiè zài zěn me biàn huà, wǒ hái shì xǐ huan wǒ de tián dì, xǐ huan wǒ shú xī de cūn zhuāng.” shāng rén xiào le xiào, bù zài shuō shén me, zhuǎn shēn lí kāi le. lǐ dà bó kàn zhe shāng rén yuǎn qù de bèi yǐng, xīn lǐ què zài xiǎng：wài miàn de shì jiè dào dǐ shì shén me yàng zi ne？

In a remote village, there lived an old man named Li Da Bo. He spent his whole life working in the fields and knew nothing about the outside world. One day, a merchant from another country came to the village. He brought many strange things, attracting the attention of the villagers. Li Da Bo was also curious and went closer to see, but he couldn't understand a single word the merchant said. Seeing that he knew absolutely nothing, the merchant asked him with a smile: "Old man, have you ever seen a train?

Usage

形容对某件事物或某项知识完全不懂，常用于贬义，表示对某事缺乏了解或学习。

xíng róng duì mǒu jiàn shì wù huò mǒu xiàng zhī shì quán mián bù dǒng, cháng yòng yú biǎn yì, biǎo shì duì mǒu shì què fá liǎo jiě huò xué xí.

Describes someone who knows absolutely nothing about something. It is often used pejoratively to express a lack of knowledge or education about something.

Examples

• 他对于电脑一无所知，连开机都不会。

  tā duì yú diàn nǎo yī wú suǒ zhī, lián kāi jī dōu bù huì.

  He knows nothing about computers, he doesn't even know how to turn it on.

• 我对于这个行业一无所知，需要从头开始学习。

  wǒ duì yú zhè ge háng yè yī wú suǒ zhī, xū yào cóng tóu kāi shǐ xué xí.

  I know nothing about this industry and need to start from scratch.

• 对于这起事件，我们一无所知，只能等待调查结果。

  duì yú zhè qǐ shì jiàn, wǒ men yī wú suǒ zhī, zhǐ néng děng dài diào chá jié guǒ.

  We know nothing about this incident and can only wait for the results of the investigation.

Related Idioms

• 一概不知

• 一窍不通

• 目不识丁

Opposite Idioms

• 无所不知

• 博古通今

• 见多识广