face the music

English

Etymology

Origin unclear. First appeared in the 19th century. It may be from either the theater or the military. Either facing literal music: as the performers on the stage are facing the music from the orchestra pit when confronting a possibly hostile audience; or a soldier is facing the military band at a dressing-down ceremony; or the music is by grim humor a euphemism for the noise of battle.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

face the music (third-person singular simple present faces the music, present participle facing the music, simple past and past participle faced the music)

1. (idiomatic) To accept or confront the unpleasant consequences of one's actions.
   • 1941 December, Kenneth Brown, “The Newmarket & Chesterford Railway—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 533:

     Hudson personally would not face the music at that meeting and the business could hardly proceed for groans and hisses and cries of "Hudson! Hudson! Why is Hudson not here?" and so the ungrateful shareholders to whom Hudson had generously paid dividends out of their own capital cast out Hudson bag and baggage, including therein the agreement with the Newmarket Railway.

Translations

See also

• face up to
• pay the piper

References

• “face the music”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.