to face the music
19
4.5
- idiom
- Informal
:
aceptar las consecuencias
- Let's face the music.
- time to face the music
- Let's face the music
- ready to face the music
So what they want to do is postpone the crash as long as they possibly can so they don't have to face the music right, with the voters.
- So what they want to do is postpone the crash as long as they possibly can so they don't have to face the music right, with the voters.
Examples
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You've got to go in there and face the music.
-
I have to face the music some day.
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Sometimes you have to face the music.
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He'll have to face the music on his own.
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You gotta face the music, Nick.
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We must face the music.
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On Monday, he will face the music.
Fiction book (1993) -
But last weekend, I finally had to face the music.
Blog text (21) -
Do not use such apps illegally, or you will have to face the music.
Blog text (2) -
After missing the deadline, he knew he had to face the music and explain to his boss.
Synonyms
55
7.5
Accept blame or punishment, often instead of someone else
38
4.1
To accept and deal with a difficult situation directly and bravely
16
3.7
Accept real facts even when they are painful
9
7.7
Accept the bad result of something you did
7
8.2
Accept failure or criticism bravely without complaining
5
6.8
To accept an unpleasant situation without complaining
2
8.1
To accept unpleasant results and sometimes punishment for something you did
1
7.9
To accept blame or responsibility that others refuse
To accept the bad results of your own choices
Antonyms
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
face + the + music
Although 'face' means 'to confront' and could hint at confronting something, 'music' has no literal or compositional link to 'unpleasant consequences' so the overall meaning cannot be inferred from the parts. The phrase is a conventionalized idiom whose sense is unpredictable from its constituents, so a B1 learner knowing the individual words would likely not derive the intended meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Face the music may come from old armies where a punished soldier had to march in front of the band and literally 'face the music' while everyone watched. So today face the music means 'to accept and deal with unpleasant consequences or criticism'.