# British or Aussie term "It's tickets" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062 "2009-11-02T16:22:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/1 "2009-11-02T16:22:53Z")
Maybe I misunderstood, but a person in a program I was watching said something like “It’s tickets” in referring to someone who had just suffered a serious injury. Unfortunately, I’ve already deleted the program, so I can’t refer to it anytime soon. I took it to mean the same sort of sense as in “Game over.” Anyone??? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/2 "2009-11-02T16:36:18Z")
I haven’t come across it as an Australian term. I’ve looked in two Australian dictionaries, and the closest I’ve find is “to get your ticket”, meaning to be discharged from the armed forces. It might be related to that. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/3 "2009-11-02T16:46:50Z")
As a speaker of South African English (much closer to British English than American English is) I would interpret that the same way you did: something you would say about something after it was clear that its doom was inevitable (a sports career after a bad injury, a job after an ill-timed comment in front of the boss, etc) I can’t say it is a hugely common saying, but I think if you said it in South Africa English speaking people would know what you meant (although I’ve noticed one of the fascinating things about language is the ease in which people know what sayings mean even if they haven’t heard them before - you intuitively getting this one right being a perfect example). ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/4 "2009-11-02T17:02:14Z")
Not something I’ve ever heard. Is it possible you misheard it? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/5 "2009-11-02T17:13:48Z")
Oh, definitely possible. I’ll snag a copy when the program airs again. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/6 "2009-11-02T18:03:34Z")
I suspect that Driver8 has the right idea. I haven’t lived in the UK for 35 years, but I’d assume that they meant that someone was probably terminal. It brings to mind the idea of someone “punching their ticket” – which I’ve always taken to mean that they’re dead. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/7 "2009-11-02T18:36:54Z")
Another Brit here who hasn’t heard it before. Could it be they said ‘it’s curtains’? Because that would make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/8 "2009-11-02T19:00:02Z")
Thanks for the responses. One more thought: It might actually have been South African. I think it was said by a South African diver in response to another diver having survived a chomp by a tiger shark. Something like, “If he clamps down on your leg, it’s the tickets.” I’ll pay closer attention next time it’s on (“Untamed and Uncut” episode “Unlikely Heroes.”) ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/9 "2009-11-02T20:14:05Z")
Could it have been “tickety” - as in “tickety boo” - meaning everything’s okay? I have heard that expression used in British TV programs? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/10 "2009-11-04T17:36:55Z")
> [@Ultraviolet](#): > > Could it have been “tickety” - as in “tickety boo” - meaning everything’s okay? I have heard that expression used in British TV programs? …before the war?? REALLY, no one says that. ---
**Author:** ![StrangeBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@StrangeBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangeBird)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/11 "2009-11-04T19:58:13Z")
I’m Australian and have never heard “It’s tickets”. I would have the guess the meaning from the context if I came across it. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/12 "2009-11-04T21:30:48Z")
I’ve heard it in the version “it will be tickets for you/him/them”, with the same meaning that **Driver8** mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/13 "2009-11-05T00:33:24Z")
> [@Ultraviolet](#): > > Could it have been “tickety” - as in “tickety boo” - meaning everything’s okay? I have heard that expression used in British TV programs? > [@SanVito](#): > > …before the war?? > > REALLY, no one says that. Don’t tell that to [Billy Connolly](http://www.billyconnolly.com/main.html). ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/14 "2009-11-05T01:57:43Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Thanks for the responses. One more thought: It might actually have been South African. I think it was said by a South African diver in response to another diver having survived a chomp by a tiger shark. Something like, “If he clamps down on your leg, it’s the tickets.” I’ll pay closer attention next time it’s on (“Untamed and Uncut” episode “Unlikely Heroes.”) I bet it wasn’t “it’s the tickets” though, that sounds weird (I wouldn’t expect the “the”). I did a Google search on the phrase “it’s tickets for you”, and the results (limited as they may be) skew South African. I’m betting this is a South African expression. Here are some samples: [“Having said that, though, even if you aren’t allergic to bees, if that large number decides to attack it’s tickets for you.”](http://blogspace.mweb.co.za/DesktopModules/MIH/Blog/BlogView.aspx?tabID=0&alias=g&ItemID=54081&mid=95221) [“Once that has happened, it’s tickets for you. You will never get your e-mail address off that list ever.”](http://www.freetime.co.za/spam.htm) [“I’m the Ticket Monster! Tickets beware, it’s tickets for you!”](http://floss.pro/notice/16341) (a little pun action by a guy who appears to be South African) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/15 "2009-11-05T08:14:21Z")
South African here. “It’s tickets for…” basically means “it’s the end for…”. This may come from another expression “Cash in your ticket”, meaning “die”, and by extension “to finish (whatever)”, like an army stint or something. Originally from betting on horse racing, which was the only legal gambling here in the past. See, for instance, [this punning headline](http://www.capeargus.co.za/?fArticleId=5004157). ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/16 "2009-11-05T09:50:11Z")
+1 on all counts ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/17 "2010-02-03T18:23:38Z")
A sighting: my grandmother, an English-speaking South African, talking of a friend who died: “… and while he was in hospital he got pneumonia, and then it was tickets.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/18 "2011-10-14T13:46:32Z")
I know the question has been answered, but now I have the exact quote: “If a tiger shark latches onto you, it’s tickets for you! That’s over for you! Game over!” In this specific case, the shark had bitten a diver’s thigh, and the diver pushed on the shark’s nose. Shark let go, and that was the end of it. No serious injury. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/19 "2011-10-14T14:03:33Z")
I’ve never heard it, but saying it to myself in a South African accent, I can see how that would work. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062/20 "2011-10-14T21:34:38Z")
Never mind [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-or-aussie-term-its-tickets/516062.md?page=2)