一窍不通

一竅不通
yīqiàobùtōng
idiom #13,223

Meanings

  1. 1 to not understand at all; to not have a clue
  2. 2 it's all Greek to me

Examples

Wǒ duì yīnyuè yīqiào bùtōng.
I don't understand music at all.
Tā duì diànnǎo yīqiào bùtōng.
He doesn't know the first thing about computers.

Tips

history
Literally 'not even one aperture is open'. The idiom alludes to the ancient belief that an intelligent person's heart has seven apertures (). If not even one is open, the person understands nothing.
grammar
Commonly used with (duì): ...一窍不通 means 'to know nothing about...'.

Stroke Order

qiào
tōng