Raincheck

Raincheck is used to tell someone that you can’t do something with them when they want, but you can do it later. It can be used to say that you want to do something, but the schedule doesn’t work for you. Alternatively, some people use this to decline an invitation in a polite way. They may not intend on doing it later.

Example: I’m sorry that I can’t join you hiking on Sunday, I have plans. But, can I have a raincheck?

The term comes from baseball in the late 1800s. If a game was postponed due to rain, the people who bought tickets would receive a rain check. They could use the rain check to go to a later game. The St. Louis Brown Stockings upset their fans in 1876 by not returning money to spectators after a game was rained out. The team was forced to change their policy. If a game was cancelled people would receive a voucher (인환권) to use at a later game. The policy was costly, and the National League voted to end this practice in 1881, but the practice continued.

Baseball tickets changed in the late 1880s. Originally, teams would use the same tickets game after game. They were collected from the spectators (구경꾼) at the ticket booth. If the game was cancelled, the ticket booth would return the tickets to the spectators. The tickets could be used at a future event. However, this actually created a problem. The illegal spectators who snuck into the ballpark would also collect a ticket on the way out (that they never paid for). To prevent this, Abner Powell invented the detachable ticket stub (티켓 반권). If you have ever been to an event and the ticket booth tears off a piece of a ticket, it all started with Abner Powell and his attempt to stop boys from illegally getting rain checks.

Rain check was already being used metaphorically by 1889. Eventually, the two words were combined into raincheck.

See Also: When it rains it pours, gyp, It's better late than never, Daily Schedule

 

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Reference:
https://books.google.co.kr/books?id=ceroqgsb8osC&pg=PA412&dq=%22rain+check%22&redir_esc=y&hl=ko#v=onepage&q=%22rain%20check%22&f=false
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rain_check

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