that's the ticket
1
8.2
- idiom
- Archaic
:
esa es la solución
- Finding a local mentor was the ticket to achieving his academic goals.
Examples
-
Now that is the ticket.
Blog text (9) -
If you want to succeed in the competition, practicing daily is the ticket.
-
To keep him closer to home, closer to her, that was the ticket.
Fiction book (1996) -
She decided that taking the evening class was the ticket to enhancing her skills.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A solution that explains or fixes a problem
∞
2.1
An answer to a problem or a way to deal with a difficult situation
5
6.1
Exactly what you need in a particular situation
3
8.1
The most useful thing to get what you want
How Right
∞
1.0
- Archaic
1
8.2
∞
1.0
- Informal
126
8.1
641
1.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase uses 'ticket' in an extended, metaphorical sense meaning 'the right solution' so the parts ('that is' + 'the' + 'ticket') give a clue to approval. However, this non-literal use of 'ticket' is metaphorical and not reliably predictable from the basic meaning 'a pass' for a B1 learner without prior exposure, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
That's the ticket may come from the idea of a ticket as a pass that shows you are correct to enter. Imagine a person at a door checking tickets; when they see the right one someone could shout 'that's the ticket', so today the phrase means 'the right solution'.