A wolf's ticket (Russian: Волчий билет, Polish: wilczy bilet) is a colloquial expression for a document (an ID, a certificate, etc.) with clauses that restricted rights of a person, such his right to work or study in educational institutions.[1][2][3] The phrase and such restrictions were used in the Russian Empire and USSR.
Russia
Originally it was a colloquial phrase in Russian Empire to denote a document issued instead of the internal passport to persons who were given a half-year postponement of katorga or exile for settling personal affairs. The phrase "wolf's certificate" or "wolf's passport" referred to a bad document with which it was impossible to be employed.[4] It also referred to a passport marked with a notice about political unreliability.[5]
Later, it denoted a limited certificate for completion of studies. Unlike a regular diploma, it merely stated that the studies were completed, but the student was not allowed to take exams for reasons of poor study or improper behavior.[citation needed]
A wolf's ticket was a serious impediment to one's career. Still later this phrase was applied to a document issued in place of an internal passport to persons released from imprisonment ("certificate of release"). Usually this kind of document restricted the rights of a citizen in terms of place of residence (the 101st kilometre rule), occupation, and so on.[citation needed]
Poland
In Poland, "wolf's ticket" Polish: wilczy bilet) means an informal official negative opinion that prevented a person from traveling abroad, taking up studies or working due to offenses committed by him, usually of a political nature.[6]
References
- ^ "Волчий билет / Справочник по фразеологии". Gramota.ru (in Russian).
- ^ "Волчий билет". Fraze.ru (in Russian).
- ^ "Значение словосочетания ВОЛЧИЙ БИЛЕТ". Kartaslov.ru (in Russian).
- ^ Большой толково-фразеологический словарь Михельсона, Волчий аттестат, паспорт
- ^ Евгений Михайлович Верещагин, Виталий Григорьевич Костомаров, "Язык и культура: три лингвострановедческие концепции : лексичекого фона, рече-поведенческих тактик и сапиентемы", p. 206
- ^ wilczy bilet, Wielki słownik języka polskiego PAN