ticket to ride
English
Etymology
From the use of tickets to control access to various forms of transportation.
Noun
ticket to ride (plural tickets to ride)
- (idiomatic) Something that enables one to do something which would otherwise not be possible.
- 2007, Doug "Ten" Rose, Fearless Puppy on American Road, page 100:
- The club's “partners” had made arrangements with the police, so employees were cop proof too. All this amounted to a ticket to ride for me. The party only stopped when I wanted it to.
- 2011, Kurt Fishback, Passion with Purpose, page 50:
- The plan was always to teach and at the college level. This required a graduate degree, the next ticket to ride.
- 2015, Rob Thurman, Carniepunk: Painted Love:
- I came across Bart on a week away, whoring and drinking mostly, heard his glib stories about where he worked, and there found my opportunity. His ego was my ticket to ride.
- Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see ticket, ride.