不经意
bù jīng yì · HSK 7
not paying attention
😯 bu jing yi = not + pass-through + mind: it never crossed your mind
不 (not) + 经 (pass through) + 意 (intention/mind). Something that never passed through your awareness — you did it without noticing, carelessly, by accident.
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.
经 — silk radical 纟 + 巠 (underground stream)
Originally written 經, combining the silk radical 糸 with 巠, depicting vertical threads on a loom. The core meaning was 'warp threads,' which extended to 'pass through,' 'classic text,' and 'manage.' The phonetic 巠 also suggests the sound.