also: めにいっちょうじもない
completely illiterate; cannot read a single character
Idiomatic expression emphasizing total illiteracy; literally 'not even one character in the eye'. Often used in negative form to stress the complete lack of reading ability. Compare 目に一丁字なし.
See also: 目に一丁字なし
He is so illiterate you could say he doesn't know a single character.
昔の農民の中には目に一丁字もない人が多かった。
In the past, many farmers were completely illiterate.
Synonymous expression with the same meaning; なし is the classical terminal form, while もない is the modern negative form.
Another idiomatic expression for complete illiteracy, literally 'cannot understand a single sentence'.
Standard kanji form for this set phrase. The reading いっていじ is more common than いっちょうじ.
Alternate reading using いっちょうじ for 一丁字. Less common but still encountered.
Based on the Classical Chinese expression 目不識丁, “the eyes do not recognize even the character 丁.” Japanese 一丁字もない similarly emphasizes inability to recognize even a single written character.