face the music

F

face the music

Meaning

  • receive punishment
  • accept unpleasant consequences of your actions
  • be confronted with disagreeable results
  • accept criticism for something that you have done

Example Sentences

  1. If you have done something wrong, you have to face the music. There’s no escaping out of it.
  2. The children broke the window pane while playing and had to face the music when their parents returned home.
  3. If you don’t complete the project on time, you will have to face the music when the boss asks for a status report.
  4. If you keep breaking the rules, sooner or later you will be caught and then you will have to face the music.
  5. He was part of an illegal racing gang, and had to face the music when they were busted.
  6. Having failed his English test, he had to go home and face the music.

Origin
The precise origin of this phrase is not known, but there are theories which are not proven. One theory says that it originated in the military, where disgraced officers were dismissed to the beating of drums and band music. Another theory is it comes from theatre, where the actors have to face the orchestra pit. The phrase originated in America in the mid 1800s.

Share your opinions5 Opinions

This most likely comes from the book of Daniel when the three Hebrew boys knew they were going to face unfavorable consequences when the music was played and they would not bow down to the image created by Nebuchadnezzar.

There are many idioms that come from the Bible originally, such as “the writing’s on the wall”, etc.

‒ V.F. Denisi April 16, 2021

music – muse – mutate – move – motion – momentum
words that sound the same are often rooted on the same basic concept.

‒ Joseph Aronesty December 12, 2020

Why was there no mention of the 3 men in the bibles book of Daniel chapter 3 who were ordered to ”face the music” and bow to the statue of the local king ? This may be more familiar to some as the story of the 3 men that survived the ”fiery furnace” in the bible Daniel ch. 3 vs 1 thru 30. This is a contender for the origin of the phrase in my opinion. Cecil Wayne Burdeshaw.

‒ Cecil Burdeshaw November 29, 2020

What figure of speech is this?

‒ Anonymous March 30, 2019

Can anyone tell me what figure speech this is? “It was time to face the music.”

‒ Mazzy March 30, 2018

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