Are You Ready to Face the Music?

Are You Ready to Face the Music?

Now, the VOA Learning¹ English program Words and Their Stories.

There are so many expressions in American English that sound pleasant but are not.

“Face the music” is a good example. When someone says they have to “face the music,” it does not mean they are going to a musical performance or concert.

“Facing the music” means to accept the unpleasant results of an action.

Americans often use the word “face” in this way. For example, “I can’t face another night of camping! It’s cold and rainy.” Or “In life, you must face your fears.”

Face used in this way is very common. But now, back to facing the music.

Imagine a friend asks you to take care of her beautiful red sports car.

She gives you the keys and says, “Thanks so much for watching my car while I’m away. But please, do not drive it. It is an extremely fast car and you are not on the insurance.”

But you do not listen. You want to show off to some friends and pretend the car is yours. So, you drive it around town one night. As bad luck would have it, you lose control of the car and drive it into a stop sign.

The damage is severe. When your friend returns you must tell her what you have done and “face the music.”

The “music” here is the consequence or result of your actions. It could be losing her friendship or paying for repairs to her sports car or both. Whatever the music is, you must face it.

Most Americans know the expression “face the music.” It is more than 150 years old. As with many expressions, its history is not clear.

In 1851, the writer James Fenimore Cooper reportedly explained “face the music” as a theatrical² term.

In a theater, the orchestra³ often sits in front of the stage. So, actors come on stage facing the musicians. Many actors are very nervous, a condition called stage fright. They may want to run away. Face the music came to mean accepting stage fright and not surrendering⁴ to it.

Word experts also say “face the music” may have come from the military.

A solider who did something terrible could be forced out of the horse cavalry⁵.

The army drummers would play a slow, sad beat. The soldier would be carried away seated backward on a horse and facing the music of the drums. Humiliating!

There are other American expressions that mean the same thing as face the music.

To “take your medicine” means to accept the results from something bad you have done. And if someone says, “You made your bed. Now lie in it,” they mean you created a bad situation and now you will experience the results, or as we say in spoken American English, you must deal with it!

“Pay the piper” also means the same as “face the music.” But, that expression has its own very interesting beginning. We will talk about that on another Words and Their Stories.

Words in This Story

concert – n. a public performance of music

show off – v. to display proudly

pretend – v. to give a false appearance of being, possessing, or performing

consequence – n. something that happens as a result of a particular action or set of conditions

cavalry – n. the part of an army that in the past had soldiers who rode horses and that now has soldiers who ride in vehicles or helicopters

humiliating – adj. extremely destructive⁶ to one's self-respect or dignity

confess⁷ – v. to admit that you did something wrong or illegal

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

3 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。

4 surrendering   

v.投降( surrender的现在分词 )；放弃，抛弃

参考例句：

• The enemy is surrendering all along the line. 敌军全部投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Peace was signed at Frankfort surrendering the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to the Germans. 和平协议在法兰克福签署，阿尔萨斯和洛林。拱手让给德国。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

5 cavalry   

n.骑兵；轻装甲部队

参考例句：

• We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
• The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。

6 destructive   

adj.破坏（性）的，毁灭（性）的

参考例句：

• In the end,it will be destructive of our whole society.它最终会毁灭我们整个社会。
• It is the most destructive storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的一次风暴。

7 confess   

vt.承认，坦白；vi.承认，坦白，忏悔

参考例句：

• Many Christians regularly confess their guilty actions and thoughts to a priest.很多基督徒都定期向牧师忏悔他们的罪行和恶念。
• I confess to some suspicion of your honesty.我承认对你的诚实有所怀疑。