For language-lovers and the curious:
If you ever say, “I’m drawing a blank,” your listener understands that you can’t remember something. Back in the era of Queen Elizabeth I, in the 16th century, when the phrase originated, the person you’re talking to would think you’d lost out.
To raise money the queen devised a national lottery. There was a “lot pot” with tickets containing people’s names, and a second one with other tickets, some listing a prize, some blank. In other words, a person could draw a prize or draw a blank. How the phrase gravitated toward its current meaning is part of the mystery of ever-changing human language, and proof that, as semanticists say, “Meaning is in the mind of the hearer.” A good reminder for us always to think before we speak.