Rain check

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A rain check is an informal agreement by a merchant to a customer to provide an item the merchant has run out of at a later date for the item's current price, or (in a more literal sense) to provide a service at a later date which cannot currently be provided due to rain or other inclement weather. The term is chiefly used only in North America. The former is particularly useful if the merchant was having a sale on the item, as the customer can return later and use the rain check to purchase the item at the sale price even if the item is no longer on sale.

Prior to 1889, US Baseball fans were issued a new ticket if rain was so heavy that it caused a game to be postponed. Abner Powell, a major league baseball player and manager in the 19th century, added a detachable stub called a rain check that year. This avoided issuing tickets to fans who may not have been legitimate ticket holders, and encouraged fans to buy tickets without fear that they would pay for a game that might be rained out. This quickly became a standard practice for all major league teams.

The term may have originated in the era of open-air markets where the occurrence of significant rain usually required a vendor to pack up his goods and leave. The term may also be based on the issuing of tickets to claim property such as a coat or hat check.

The term is also used in social interactions - "I'll have to get a raincheck on that" is a polite way to turn down an invitation to a party, a date, or a social get-together, usually with the strong implication that another time would be acceptable.