一か八か

Unknown. Perhaps from gambling parlance, from 一か罰か (ichi ka bachi ka, “one or nothing”, literally “one or punishment”); or from the top strokes of the kanji in the phrase 丁か半か (chō ka han ka, literally “even or odd”), from the game of chōhan.

• (Tokyo) いちかばちか [ìchíꜜkàbàchìkà] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [it͡ɕika̠ba̠t͡ɕika̠]

一(いち)か八(ばち)か • (ichikabachika) 

1. (idiomatic) sinking or swimming; all or nothing

   一(いち)か八(ばち)かやってみよう。

   Ichikabachika yatte miyō.

   I’ll take my chances.

   一(いち)か八(ばち)か。よし！

   Ichikabachika. Yoshi!

   Here goes nothing!