莫名其妙
莫名其妙 (mò míng qí miào) literally means “cannot name its wonder” and expresses “makes no sense”. This idiom is used when describing situations involving wisdom and learning.
Also searched as: mo ming qi miao, mo ming qi miao,莫名其妙 meaning, 莫名其妙 in english
Makes no sense
Pronunciation: mò míng qí miào Literal meaning: Cannot name its wonder
Origin & Usage
Something whose strangeness (妙) cannot (莫) be named (名). 妙 is the trap for learners: in Daoist writing it is the subtle and the marvellous, but the tone here is exasperated rather than reverent, and the speaker is not contemplating a mystery so much as failing to make sense of something absurd. Late-imperial vernacular writing is where it belongs. Behaviour that came out of nowhere, a rule with no reason behind it, and very commonly a person, where it means roughly what English means by calling somebody a piece of work.
Examples
English: "She was billed for a service she had never signed up for, with no explanation"
Chinese: 她收到一张从未订购过的服务账单，也没有任何说明
Related Chinese Idioms
Similar idioms about wisdom & learning
好逸恶劳
hào yì wù láo
Shirk effort by preference
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抱薪救火
bào xīn jiù huǒ
Make situation worse
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讳莫如深
huì mò rú shēn
Maintain absolute silence about sensitive matter
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莫逆之交
mò nì zhī jiāo
Be bosom friends
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名副其实
míng fù qí shí
Living up to one's name or reputation
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妙笔生花
miào bǐ shēng huā
Exceptional literary or artistic talent
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妙语连珠
miào yǔ lián zhū
Wit arriving in a run
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一模一样
yī mú yī yàng
Exactly identical
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does 莫名其妙 mean in English?
莫名其妙 (mò míng qí miào) literally translates to “Cannot name its wonder” and is used to express “Makes no sense”. This Chinese idiom belongs to the Wisdom & Learning category.
When is 莫名其妙 used?
Situation: She was billed for a service she had never signed up for, with no explanation
What is the pinyin for 莫名其妙?
The pinyin pronunciation for 莫名其妙 is “mò míng qí miào”.
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