📖 Meaning
苟 means careless or casual. The idiom describes writing or speaking done without any sloppiness, where every single character is weighed and deliberated before it is committed. It conveys a meticulous, scrupulous attitude toward one's words.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the Song dynasty philosopher Zhu Xi, recorded in 《朱子语类·论语·学而篇中》. The full line reads “因说伊川讲解，一字不苟”, spoken while discussing how the earlier Confucian scholar Cheng Yi (程颐, styled 伊川) expounded the Analects of Confucius. Zhu Xi praised Cheng Yi for never treating any word casually when explaining the classic, weighing each term with care. From this the expression became a standard way to praise writing or scholarship that shows the same character-by-character rigor.
💡 Example Usage
他写文章一字不苟，每个字都要反复推敲。
He writes with not a single careless word, weighing every character over and over.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 一字不苟
- Pinyin: yī zì bù gǒu
- Literal Translation: one, word, not, careless
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4