莫名其妙 (mò míng qí miào)

Character breakdown

• 莫 (Mò) · 10 strokes

  Depicts the sun (日) shining through vegetation (茻). Based on the original meaning "sunset", now written as 暮. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

• 名 (míng) · 6 strokes

  Depicts a mouth (口) saying their own name at night (夕) when it is too dark for others to see them.

• 其 (qí) · 8 strokes

  Pictograph of a basket, now written as 箕. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

• 妙 (miào) · 7 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 少 represents the sound.

Usage

他说的话让人莫名其妙。

(idiom) baffling; bizarre; without rhyme or reason; inexplicable

tā shuō de huà ràng rén mò míng qí miào 。