莫名其妙
mò míng qí miào · HSK 7
unable to make head or tail of it
🌫️ 莫 (none) + 名 (name) + 其 (its) + 妙 (subtlety) = no name for its subtlety → baffling, inexplicable
名 — evening 夕 + mouth 口
A compound ideograph: in the dark of evening (夕), one cannot recognize others by sight, so the mouth (口) calls out a name to identify oneself. The original sense of 'name' broadened to include reputation, fame, and a measure word for people.
其 — top 八 + winnowing basket 其 (originally 箕)
Originally a pictograph of a bamboo winnowing basket, now written 箕 with the bamboo radical added on top. The original form 其 was borrowed phonetically to write the pronoun and particle meaning 'his/her/its' or 'that.' This loan use became dominant, so a new character 箕 was created for the basket meaning.
妙 — woman radical 女 + few 少
妙 is a semantic-phonetic compound. 女 (woman) suggests delicacy or beauty, while 少 (few/young) provides the sound and hints at youthful slenderness. The original sense was 'subtle, delicate, exquisite,' later extending to 'wonderful' or 'marvelous.'