怎么

Why does 怎么 look like this?

'怎' (zěn) is made of '乍' (suddenly) on top and '心' (heart) on the bottom, originally suggesting a sudden thought or feeling. '么' (me) is a simplified suffix, often used to turn a character into a question word or a grammatical particle. Together, they literally translate to the state of one's mind wondering 'how' or 'why'.