ichimon nashi lit. ‘without a single mon coin’
Japanese idiom, everyday. To have no money at all.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Japanese speaker.
How do people use 一文無し
?
Everyday and a bit dramatic, used for being completely out of money, at least for now: “一文無しになった” (I’m cleaned out). It works as a noun with だ or になる, or for a person (“一文無しの若者”). 無一文 means the same and sounds slightly more formal.
Also said 無一文, 文無し, 素寒貧
一文無し
in real sentences
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私は一文無しになった。
Watashi wa ichimon nashi ni natta.
I’m cleaned out.
Tatoeba, sentence by bunbuku, translation by CM, CC BY 2.0 FR
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トムとメアリーは一文無しなのかも。
Tomu to Mearī wa ichimon nashi na no kamo.
I suspect Tom and Mary are broke.
Tatoeba, sentence by bunbuku, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does 一文無し
come from?
English Wiktionary breaks it down as 一 (one) + 文 (mon, the old Japanese coin) + 無し (without). The mon was the smallest coin in use before the yen, so having “not even one” meant having nothing. No date for the first recorded use is known.
Mistakes learners make with 一文無し
Reading 一文 as いちぶん (one sentence). Here it’s いちもん, the mon coin, so the phrase is about money and not writing.
Other Japanese idioms like 一文無し
Spot a mistake in 一文無し
?
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