get out of jail free card

See also: get-out-of-jail-free card

English

Alternative forms

• get-out-of-jail-free card

Etymology

An element of the board game Monopoly, allowing a player to leave the "jail" square immediately, without missing game turns.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

get out of jail free card (plural get out of jail free cards)

1. (informal, idiomatic) A certain privilege or advantage that provides relief from an undesirable situation or immunity from punishment or consequences.
   • 2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.2, at p.35:

     "I don't care to know who spanked her or looked at her cross-eyed when she was little."
     "Trust me, Henry," Ivy said. "It goes way beyond spanking."
     "So that gives her a get-out-of-jail-free card?"
     "Of course it doesn't. What I am saying is―"
     "No, here's what I'm saying. She's combative, she refuses to do the work, and if she shows up in my class wearing those penis earrings again, she's going to get the boot, same as she got today."

   • 2020 March 30, A.J. Goodman, “R. v. T.K., 2020 ONSC 1935”, in CanLII‎^[1], retrieved 14 September 2023:

     ...this decision is not intended to send out a message that due to the pandemic there exists a revolving door policy for offenders to commit crime with the expectation of release or that offenders can now benefit with a "get out of jail free" card. Indeed, if this were the case generally, it would erode the public confidence in the criminal justice system, especially as it pertains to violent offenders or crimes of violence.

Synonyms

• exemption
• free pass
• immunity
• scotfree

 

Related terms

• get-out
• get out of

 

Translations

thing relieving an undesired situation

• Finnish: vapaudu vankilasta -kortti
• Hebrew: כרטיס יציאה מהכלא, כרטיס יציאה חינם מהכלא, כרטיס "צא מהכלא", כרטיס "חנינה, צא מהכלא", קלף "צא מהכלא"
• Vietnamese: kim bài miễn tử

See also

• do not pass go, do not collect $200