Draft comes to us from an Old English word dragan, meaning “to draw, pull or drag.” It can be used to describe a flow of air or beer. In the U.S., it means a flow of young men into the army.
The English spelling cheque was influenced by the French eschequier, or “exchequer.” It originally came from the chess term checkmate and indicated that money in the exchequer was stopped and not going anywhere. The money could only be dragged or drawn out of the bank by a “money draft” or a bank cheque.
The American spelling, check, which is at least six hundred years old, still retains some of its original meaning. After nearly a thousand years, the words draft and draught (which sound the same) still indicate the movement of air or beer. But the word cheque, which is not even two hundred years old, has reversed itself and now suggests money coming out of the bank, rather than money safely locked away.
The word check has so may meanings today that it is severely overworked. It is both a noun (we write checks to pay our bills) or a verb. You can check the brakes of your car or the weather or your email. And the doctor can check your health. And you can be checked in or checked out or checked over and even checked off.
So why do the English call the game Americans call checkers draughts? Sorry, it has nothing to do with drafty drawing rooms. It’s played on a checkered board and comes from the original meaning of the word, “to pull, or drag.” You drag or draw the checkers across the checkered board.
And that’s also where drawing came from. The artist drags or draws his pencil across the paper.
I’ll now go and draw a draught of beer and check that none of my cheques have bounced. The editor of these blogs loves puns. Just to complicate things, I once told her I was sending her “a little czech.” She got the pun - and cashed it.