change tune
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change (one's) tune
To change one's attitude, opinion, manner, or stance on something, typically in a way that is more positive or agreeable. The mention of a hefty tip really changed the host's tune, so I think he'll be able to find us a table after all. After I threatened him with no allowance, my son changed his tune and started doing his chores.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
change someone's tune
to change the manner of a person, usually from bad to good, or from rude to pleasant. The teller was most unpleasant until she learned that I'm a bank director. Then she changed her tune. "I will help change your tune by fining you $150," said the judge to the rude defendant.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
change (one's) tune
To alter one's approach or attitude.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
change one's tune, to
To reverse one’s views, change one’s mind, switch sides in a controversy. The analogy is very old; John Gower wrote, ca. 1394, “Now schalt thou singe an other song,” and the actual phrase, “change your tune,” appears in a ballad about Robin Hood (one of the Child ballads) from about 1600. And a character in Samuel Beckett’s novel, The Unnameable (1953), says, “I have my faults, but changing my tune is not one of them.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer