work off one’s ticket—
1. earn one’s passage by services on board ship, etc.:
- After an ancestor landed in Philly in 1679 as an indentured servant and worked off his ticket, he headed west … to present day Ohio.
2. pay off one’s fine for traffic violation by working:
- When motorcycle cop pulls over leatherclad biker, he decides to allow him to “work off ” his ticket.
work one’s ticket—(sl.) get one’s early discharge, especially from the army (by feigning illness, etc.):
- It is a comparatively easy matter for a discontented man to “work his ticket.”
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase write one’s own ticket—(coll.) be able to stipulate one’s own conditions:
- This is an actor that has reached unimagined heights in his craft and can write his own ticket.