face the music, to
face the music
To experience negative repercussions for one's actions or words, especially those that one would expect to incur punishment. I told you not to try to sneak in, and now that you've been caught, you're just going to have to face the music. If we do nothing to curb this pollution, I guarantee we will face the music in the future.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
face the music
Fig. to receive punishment; to accept the unpleasant results of one's actions. Mary broke a dining-room window and had to face the music when her father got home. After failing a math test, Tom had to go home and face the music.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
face the music
Confront unpleasantness, especially the consequences of one's errors. For example, When the check bounced, he had to face the music. The precise allusion in this expression has been lost. Most authorities believe it refers to a theater's pit orchestra, which an actor must face when he faces what can be a hostile audience, but some hold it comes from the military, where a formal dismissal in disgrace would be accompanied by band music. [Second half of 1800s] Also see face up to.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
face the music
COMMON If you face the music, you accept responsibility for something that you have done wrong and you prepare yourself to be criticized or punished for it. We were foreigners in a forbidden area, the authorities had found out and we were about to face the music. Sooner or later, she'll have to face the music and it won't be pleasant. Note: The `music' in this expression may refer to the orchestra at an opera or musical. The orchestra sits in front of the stage, so when a performer faces the audience, they also face the orchestra, or `music'. Alternatively, the expression may come from an army practice in which a soldier who had been dismissed for dishonourable behaviour was sent away with drums beating.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
face the music
be confronted with the unpleasant consequences of your actions.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
face the ˈmusic
(informal) accept the difficulties, criticism and unpleasant results that your words or actions may cause: He’s been cheating us out of our money for years and now it’s time for him to face the music.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
face the music
tv. to receive the rebuke that is due one. (see also chinmusic.) You have to face the music eventually.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
face the music
To accept the unpleasant consequences, especially of one's own actions.
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.
face the music, to
To meet the consequences of one’s bad behavior, mistakes, and the like; to confront difficulties bravely. This term, American in origin, is believed to come from the theater and refers to the orchestra in the pit, which an actor must face along with a perhaps hostile audience. Another writer suggests it comes from the armed services, where a soldier’s dismissal in disgrace might be accompanied by the band’s playing the “Rogue’s March.” An 1871 book of American sayings quotes James Fenimore Cooper discussing, about 1851, Rabelais’s “unpleasant quarter [of an hour],” when the French writer found he could not pay his bill and turned on the innkeeper with an accusation of treason, which so frightened him that he let Rabelais leave without paying. Cooper said that “our more picturesque people” called this facing the music. A less picturesque synonym is to face up to something.
See also: face
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer