Origin Story
Muteokdaego breaks into three parts. Mu (無) means "without," teok means a standard or yardstick, and daego means "to press up against" or "to lunge at." The interesting piece is teok. Originally a native Korean word, teok pointed to the standard, the reason, or the proper measure of a thing — a sense that still survives in teok-eopda ("to make no sense, to be unreasonable"). So muteokdaego means "to press ahead with no standard or reason at all." It is hard to find a more precise way to describe someone who throws themselves into a task or charges in with no plan and no measure to guide them.
Another place teok carries the sense of "standard" is teokdo eopda ("not even close"), an older relative of eorim-eopda. It means falling far short of the mark — and here too, teok stands for the measure one fails to reach.
Meaning Evolution
How It Is Used
He launched a business blindly ("muteokdaego") and took a huge loss.
If you just show up out of the blue, there's no guarantee you'll get to see them.
I was startled when the child went to cross the street without even looking.
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Related Words
Memory Hook
To barge in (daego) with no standard (teok) to go by (mu). Picture someone drawing a straight line with no ruler.
"A task begun with no standard is like a ship with no heading."
