没完没了
méi wán méi liǎo · HSK 7
on and on
♾️ 没 not-have + 完 finish + 没 not-have + 了 done = no finish, no done = endless
Built from two negated finishing words: 完 (wán, to finish/complete) and 了 (liǎo, done/concluded), each prefixed by 没 (méi, not have). Doubling the not-finished idea drives home something that just keeps going on and on.
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.'
完 — roof 宀 + yuán 元 (phonetic)
完 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the roof 宀 suggests a house or enclosure, while 元 supplies the sound 'yuán/wán'. Originally it meant a building that was intact or whole, and the sense broadened to 'complete, finish, whole'.
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.'
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.