umpimähkään
Finnish
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
- IPA(key): /ˈumpiˌmæhkæːn/, [ˈumpiˌmæhk̟æːn]
- Rhymes: -æhkæːn
- Syllabification(key): um‧pi‧mäh‧kään
Adverb
umpimähkään (not comparable)
- at random, haphazardly, indiscriminately
- Arvasivat varmaan umpimähkään.
- They probably just made a random guess.
Related terms
References
- An article of Maija Länsimäki on Kotus's webpage, originally published in Helsingin Sanomat on July 30th, 2007
Further reading
- “umpimähkään”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04
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