umpimähkään

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.

• IPA^(key): /ˈumpiˌmæhkæːn/, [ˈumpiˌmæhkæːn]
• Rhymes: -æhkæːn
• Syllabification^(key): um‧pi‧mäh‧kään

umpimähkään (not comparable)

1. at random, haphazardly, indiscriminately

   Arvasivat varmaan umpimähkään.

   They probably just made a random guess.

• umpimähkäinen

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