[Reader-list] "face the music"

[Jeebesh]

dear all, "face the music" glee seems to animate some in the list,  
fired up by an FIR. here is an interesting account of the term.  
something to learn from it. warmly jeebesh

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/face-the-music.html

Accept the unpleasant consequences of one's actions.

Origin

The phrase 'face the music' has an agreeable imagery. We feel that we  
can picture who was facing what and what music was playing at the  
time. Regrettably, the documentary records don't point to any clear  
source for the phrase and we are, as so often, at the mercy of  
plausible speculation. There was, of course, a definitive and unique  
origin for the expression 'face the music' and whoever coined it was  
quite certain of the circumstances and the music being referred to.  
Let's hope at least that one of the following suggestions is the  
correct one, even though there is no clear evidence to prove it.

A commonly repeated assertion is that 'face the music' originated from  
the tradition of disgraced officers being 'drummed out' of their  
regiment. A second popular theory is that it was actors who 'faced the  
music', i.e. faced the orchestra pit, when they went on stage. A third  
theory, less likely but quite interesting none the less, was recounted  
with some confidence by a member of the choir at a choral concert I  
attended recently in Sheffield. It relates to the old UK practice of  
West Gallery singing. This was singing, literally from the west  
galleries of English churches, by the common peasantry who weren't  
allowed to sit in the higher status parts of the church. The theory  
was that the nobility were obliged to listen to the vernacular songs  
of the parishioners, often with lyrics that were critical of the ways  
of the gentry.

It may help to pinpoint the origin to know that the phrase appears to  
be mid 19th American in origin. The earliest citation I can find for  
the phrase is from The New Hampshire Statesman & State Journal, August  
1834:

"Will the editor of the Courier explain this black affair. We want no  
equivocation - 'face the music' this time."

ALmost all other early citations are American. Sadly, none of them  
give the slightest clue as to the source, or reason for, the music  
being faced.