<p>These are both idioms (成语) with fixed structures, so deleting the 一 (yī) = <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B8%80/" rel="noreferrer">"one"</a> would change the meaning, and make it nonsensical.  This also holds for Chinese words such as <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B8%80%E8%B5%B7" rel="noreferrer">一起</a> and <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%80" rel="noreferrer">第一</a>.</p>

<ul>
<li><p><a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%9D%E4%B8%8D%E8%8B%9F" rel="noreferrer"><strong>一</strong>丝不苟</a> basically means "[even] <strong>one</strong> thread not careless", referring to meticulousness.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B8%8D%E5%B1%91%E4%B8%80%E9%A1%BE" rel="noreferrer">不屑<strong>一</strong>顾</a> basically means "disdain [even] <strong>one</strong> consideration", or "disdain even considering it once".  However, here it's possible to just say <a href="http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E4%B8%8D%E5%B1%91" rel="noreferrer">不屑</a> = "disdain".</p></li>
</ul>

<p>So ordinarily dropping the 一 is not reasonable, and certainly so among fixed idioms.</p>

<p>However, in some non-idiom cases we can drop the 一, such as:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E6%AF%8F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%AA%E4%BA%BA" rel="noreferrer">每一个人</a> can be shorted to <a href="http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E6%AF%8F%E4%B8%AA%E4%BA%BA" rel="noreferrer">每个人</a>, and</li>
<li>她是一个医生 can be shorted to 她是个医生, and even further to 她是医生.</li>
</ul>

<p>In these cases it's different: we have a <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Measure_words_for_counting" rel="noreferrer">measure word</a> (个) and it's possible to sometimes drop the 一.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-06T10:30:50.550Z
I don't think  someone who  learned the characters 丝, 苟, 屑 and 顾  would not had learned  the character 一 .
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-06T04:21:17.430Z
2020-01-06T04:21:17.430Z
Becky 李蓓
<p>I'd like to know if that's optional take or not this sign, because i'm known that a few idioms are used to have this sign, thus i want to know why do they use this and how does it affect the sentence ?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-06T03:50:57.077Z
What sign?   "一"  is a character  that means "one"
Tang Ho
<grammar><sentence-structure><sentence>
Can I take this sign(一) out of these words 一丝不苟 and "不屑一顾 or no?
# Can I take this sign(一) out of these words 一丝不苟 and "不屑一顾 or no?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-06)

I'd like to know if that's optional take or not this sign, because i'm known that a few idioms are used to have this sign, thus i want to know why do they use this and how does it affect the sentence ?

**Tags:** grammar, sentence-structure, sentence

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What sign?   "一"  is a character  that means "one"  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-01-06. Score: 5

These are both idioms (成语) with fixed structures, so deleting the 一 (yī) = ["one"](http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B8%80/) would change the meaning, and make it nonsensical. This also holds for Chinese words such as [一起](http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B8%80%E8%B5%B7) and [第一](http://youdao.com/w/%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%80).

* [**一**丝不苟](http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%9D%E4%B8%8D%E8%8B%9F) basically means "[even] **one** thread not careless", referring to meticulousness.
* [不屑**一**顾](http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B8%8D%E5%B1%91%E4%B8%80%E9%A1%BE) basically means "disdain [even] **one** consideration", or "disdain even considering it once". However, here it's possible to just say [不屑](http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E4%B8%8D%E5%B1%91) = "disdain".

So ordinarily dropping the 一 is not reasonable, and certainly so among fixed idioms.

However, in some non-idiom cases we can drop the 一, such as:

* [每一个人](http://youdao.com/w/%E6%AF%8F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%AA%E4%BA%BA) can be shorted to [每个人](http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E6%AF%8F%E4%B8%AA%E4%BA%BA), and
* 她是一个医生 can be shorted to 她是个医生, and even further to 她是医生.

In these cases it's different: we have a [measure word](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Measure_words_for_counting) (个) and it's possible to sometimes drop the 一.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I don't think  someone who  learned the characters 丝, 苟, 屑 and 顾  would not had learned  the character 一 .  

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