一窍不通

Pronunciation: yī qiào bù tōng Literal meaning: Not one aperture is open

Origin & Usage

Ancient Chinese anatomy credited the heart with apertures (窍) through which understanding was thought to pass. The Lüshi Chunqiu reports that when the last Shang king had his uncle Bi Gan cut open, Confucius said 其窍通则比干不死矣 — had the king's apertures been open, Bi Gan would not have died. The king's stated motive, that he wanted to see whether a sage's heart really had seven apertures, comes from the Records of the Grand Historian rather than from this passage. Not (不) one (一) aperture (窍) open (通) is therefore total obtuseness. Modern use is much lighter, and Chinese speakers most often apply it to themselves about some subject they cannot follow.

Examples

English: "He knows nothing about the subject; he can't even understand the basics."

Chinese: 他对这个话题一窍不通。