得了
dé le , dé liǎo · HSK 5
all right!
🙆 得 = get/obtain + 了 = done; 'got it, done' → enough!
得 (dé) means obtain or be able to; 了 (le/liǎo) marks completion. Together they signal 'that's done' or 'enough already'. The dé liǎo reading appears in rhetorical questions asking whether something is even possible.
得 — 彳 (step) + 旦 (sun/day) + 寸 (hand)
Originally depicted a hand 寸 reaching for a cowrie shell 貝 (later simplified to 旦), with 彳 'step' added to show going out and obtaining something. The core meaning is 'to get' or 'obtain'. The reading děi extends this to 'must/have to' — what one is obliged to get done.
了 — pictograph of swaddled child with no arms
了 originally depicted an infant wrapped in swaddling cloth, with the arms hidden or bound — a variant of 子 (child) without the arms. From 'finished wrapping' it extended to mean 'completed' or 'finished,' which is its main modern grammatical use as an aspect particle marking completed action.