没事儿
méishìr · HSK 1
it's nothing
🤷 没 (not have) + 事 (matter) + 儿 = no matter, it's nothing
没 negates, 事 means affair/matter, and the 儿 suffix is the Beijing-dialect rhotic ending. Literally no-matter-(r), used to brush off thanks or apologies, or to say someone is free with no business to attend to.
没 — water 氵 + 殳 (hand with weapon)
Originally depicted something sinking or being submerged in water, combining the water radical 氵 with 殳, suggesting a hand reaching into a whirlpool. The core sense was 'to sink, drown, disappear under water.' From there it extended to 'to vanish, not have,' giving the modern negative meaning 'not, have not.'
事 — hand 又 holding a banner/tablet on a pole
Originally a pictograph of a hand (又) grasping a pole or ceremonial banner used by an official, depicting the act of conducting court business. From this it came to mean 'affair, matter, business, service.' It shares an ancient origin with 史 (scribe) and 吏 (official).