I read a lot of books by British authors growing up in the pre-internet era, which led to some misconceptions concerning word usage. For instance, when I read a passage about a pub owner pulling a “draught” of beer, I thought the patron must have ordered an exceptionally dry beer, since in my mind I thought “draught” meant “drought” and would be pronounced drott by a Brit instead of the American way of pronouncing it as drout which rhymes with trout. As a 12-year old Mo’ from Utah what did I know? I’d heard of dry wines, so I reasoned since “draught” meant “drought,” I thought dry beers might be a thing, especially in Dickens’ day.
My mistaken belief that the word “draught” equals “drought” continued even when the word was used in a different scenario. So, when Dickens wrote that there was a “draught” caused by a breeze through a crack in the window, I thought he meant that the breeze somehow de-humidified the inherent damp, indoor, English air, thereby causing a micro-climate of “drought” in the room.
I think I was in college when it dawned upon me that “draught” was the British spelling for “draft,” not “drought.” I prefer to think of this reading mishap as an excellent example of confirmation bias, rather than ignorance. ~ Emery Lamb
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