umpimähkään

Finnish

(index um)

Etymology

From the archaic term umpimähkä (“pile of embers covered with ash in order to keep the fire alive”); in the morning one didn't know which part of the pile was still alive.

Pronunciation
  • Hyphenation: um‧pi‧mäh‧kään
  • IPA(key): /ˈumpiˌmæhkæːn/, [ˈumpiˌmæhkæːn]

Adverb

umpimähkään (not comparable)

  1. at random, haphazardly, indiscriminately
    Arvasivat varmaan umpimähkään.
    They probably just made a random guess.

References
  • An article of Maija Länsimäki on Kotus's webpage, originally published in Helsingin Sanomat on July 30th, 2007
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