The word 无所谓 is formed by combining three distinct characters: 无 (wú), meaning "without" or "to lack"; 所 (suǒ), a classical particle that nominalizes what follows, creating "that which"; and 谓 (wèi), meaning "to call" or "to say". When assembled, the literal construction yields "without that which is called", creating an abstract conceptual meaning. This essence of "nothing that can be termed as significant" naturally evolved into its modern, idiomatic sense of "not mattering" or "indifference", where the subject is viewed as having no nameable importance or consequence.