Green’s Dictionary of Slang

tick off n.

a scolding.

1897		‘Price Warung’ Tales of the Old Regime 115: Night after night they heard the verbal tick-off of the Lieutenant-in-Command.
1917		A.S.G. Lee letter in No Parachute (1968) 24 May 18: I ran into another tick-off from Captain Pratt.
1933		E.A. Robertson Ordinary Families 310: Quarts aren’t bigger than gallons. Afraid that rather spoils the ticking off!
1960		C. MacInnes Mr Love and Justice (1964) 77: The worst I can expect [...] is a good ticking-off.
1971		Wodehouse Much Obliged, Jeeves 46: It was a severe ticking-off.
1982		Barr & York Sloane Ranger Hbk 158: Sloanes have lots of words for anger and its consequence,[...] ‘Gave him a ticking off’ [etc.].
1991		B. Quinn Smokey Hollow 117: Joe got a ticking off.
2007		S. Lawrence Those Girls 50: Most parents would have phoned their daughter and given her a good ticking off.