Confirming Your Arrival at a Location Where You Are Expected Now that we have a better sense of the meaning and origin of ‘checking in,’ let’s look at some of the practical ways you might use the phrase in a sentence. It isn’t until around 1900 that the use of this phrase begins to increase, reaching a new high in the 1940s before plateauing until about 1980. Using the Google Books Ngram Viewer, we can see that the phrase ‘checking in’ was already in use in the early 1800s, but only nominally. ‘Check up,’ on the other hand, which is related to the meaning of ‘checking in’ refers to communicating for a status update, dates back to 1883. The use of the phrases to ‘check in’ or ‘check out’ in relation to a hotel and other things, such as library books, dates back to at least 1909. Many of the ways that the word ‘check’ is used seem to have developed from the way that ‘check’ is used in chess, i.e., ‘to arrest, stop.’ It even has a definition specific to the sport of falconry– when a hawk forsakes its proper game and instead follows other birds. A sports maneuver made by a player to remove another player from the playĪs you can see, this is a versatile word indeed.A token used in gaming machines and gambling activities instead of cash.A specific paper that orders a bank to pay money to a specific entity or person (such as those found in a checkbook).A mark used to indicate something (for example, a checkmark).A situation in chess where an opposing piece is directly threatening the king.The word ‘check' in itself has several different meanings– it can refer to: For example, if you go to a hip restaurant in town, you can let your friends and followers know where you are by ‘checking in.’ The Origin of ‘Checking In’ ‘Checking in’ and ‘check in’ are also used in relation to returning a library book or something else you’ve rented or ‘checked out.’ For example, if a librarian asks if you’re planning on ‘checking in’ your overdue book, they are asking if you are ready to return it to the library’s circulation.įinally, a number of social media platforms have ‘check-in’ features where you can report your location. If your boss at your new job says that they are going to ‘check in’ periodically, they are implying that they will be contacting you (either in person, through the phone, or online, depending on what is standard in your office,) to see how you are settling in and to find out if you have any questions. If you spoke to them recently, they might simply be asking how your day is going, while if it’s been some time since you spoke, they might be asking more generally about how things in your life are. In this use of the phrase, the implication is that they want to see how you are doing and what has been going on in your life. On the other hand, if your friend messages you online and says they’re “just ‘checking in,’” the meaning implied is definition number two on our list. You can usually understand which meaning is implied by the phrase ‘checking in’ or ‘check in’ depending on its context.įor example, if someone is talking about their itinerary for a trip and their arrival at an airport or a hotel, they are most likely using the first definition of ‘checking in’ listed above. To self-report where you are through specific social media platforms.To return something while satisfying all requirements.Communicating with another individual in order to ask for or provide a status update or to simply to chat at a certain interval in time.Confirming one’s arrival at a specific location where one is expected (for example, a hotel, a doctor’s appointment, or a convention). The term ‘checking in’ actually has a few different meanings. Final Thoughts on ‘Checking In’ What Does ‘Checking In’ Mean?
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