What do we call till in English?

Hey there! As a tech geek and data analyst who loves gaming and streaming, I‘m always curious about the origins of words we use every day. So I did some digging into the word "till" and want to share what I found out.

The Multiple Meanings of Till

The most common definitions of "till" are:

• A cash drawer or box where money is stored, like in a shop or bank. This is probably the meaning most of us think of first.

• A tray or compartment for storing valuables in a larger piece of furniture like a cabinet or chest.

• The money inside the cash drawer or till itself. "The thief grabbed the money from the till and ran out of the store."

Till can also refer to cultivating or plowing land, but that‘s an older agricultural meaning and pronounced slightly differently.

Till vs. Cash Register vs. Cash Drawer

Sometimes "till" is used interchangeably with "cash register" or "cash drawer" but there are subtle differences:

• A till is the entire secure box or enclosure where cash is stored in a store.

• A cash register refers to the whole system – the till, scanner, printer, monitor etc.

• The cash drawer is the part that slides in and out of the till and directly stores the cash.

So the till is the overall container that houses a removable cash drawer and may also contain a full modern cash register setup.

History and Origins of Till

Now this part really fascinated me. The word "till" as a noun meaning a cash box actually dates all the way back to the 16th century! It comes from earlier versions of the word referring to compartments for storage:

• Old English "tylle" meaning drawer or cubbyhole

• Anglo-French "til" meaning section or compartment

• Old French "tille" for a shelf or partition in a ship

Since early English shopkeepers stored money in secure compartments, this became known as a "till". The cash was organized neatly inside and the till was locked for safety.

Till vs. Until

This one trips up many English learners. Till and until are both prepositions indicating up to a point in time or event, but till is more informal:

• I will wait here until you get back.

• She stayed at work till 10 pm every night last week.

• We didn‘t leave the party until midnight.

• I‘m going to keep studying til I get an A on the test!

Usage of Till in Business

Nowadays, most modern retail till systems are complex cash registers with scanners, touch screens, and cash drawers. But you‘ll still often hear:

• "All money goes in the till first."
• "The till count was off by $20 at close."
• "Can you grab me change from the till?"

In business accounting, the total amount of cash revenue is also referred to as "till totals" or "till sales."

Pop Culture References to Tills

As a pop culture fanatic myself, I had to point out a few fun references to tills or cash registers in media:

• Classic scene of James Bond leaping onto a till conveyor belt in "Diamonds are Forever"
• Batman hiding poisoned cash in tills at a bank in the comics
• Johnny Cash shooting a cash register in defiance in music video "God‘s Gonna Cut You Down"
• Game "Papers, Please" about an immigration officer operating a challenging till

Till Data and Statistics

Okay, I can‘t resist throwing in some data too! Here are some interesting till stats:

• $30 billion worth of UK notes are currently stored in retailer tills
• Average small retail store has $2,000 – $4,000 in their till at any time
• Loss from UK till theft was £24m in 2020, increased 50% from 2019

Till Alternatives and Future

With the rise of digital payments, I wonder if physical tills could be phased out someday. However, most experts think tills will remain commonplace for the foreseeable future. The tactile use of cash still has many advantages in retail. Nonetheless, emerging technologies may change tills over time:

• Mobile POS systems – Accept payments right on tablets or smartphones
• Smart registers – Automatically scan items using RFID or vision technology so no clerk is needed
• Biometric security – Fingerprint or facial recognition instead of keys/codes to access the till
• Cashless stores – A few experimental till-less, cashless shops have opened

But I don‘t think the trusty till will vanish entirely anytime soon. The 500+ year history of the till suggests it is an enduring concept! Let me know if you have any other thoughts or questions about the fascinating word "till." This was fun to dig into!