Regency Trivia – Ubiquitous Words – Check

As we’ve seen before, some words have been around for hundreds of years, but their meanings have evolved over time. ‘Check’ used as a verb is one of those words. Up until the around 1911 in the US, ‘check’ meant to stop someone from doing something, or to stop yourself from doing something, or to slow your horses. It applied to dogs losing a scent. To lose one’s wages, in short, there were many meanings.

However, around the time of WWI in the US ‘check’ began to be used to look in on something or to arrive and depart from a place such as checking into a hotel.

Therefore, during the Regency, ‘check’ was not used to look in one someone or something or to ensure something.

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