RETRO: Shauna and Dan return from Chicago armed with numerous parts of what newspaperman Mike Ryoko called "Chicagoese". We take a good look at the origins of Calling Dibs before doing snippets of other words and phrases like Ferris Wheel, Jinx, Pipe Dream, and more. Bonus: Dan wishes he knew I-290 was gonna be called the Eisenhower. It would have saved him so many headaches. More bonuses: Italian Beef, Hot Dogs, and Gluten-Free Donuts.
Originally aired July 7, 2021
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Dan hates on cucumbers. And a popular children's book series. And a popular TV mockumentary. But he is helpful in defining what a rundown is in baseball. Shauna explores a light history of pickling and the origins of "In a Pickle" on this week's #BunnyTrails.
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Beginning May 17, 2023, we will be merging the show notes into the episode post. This means you can find the show notes on the same post as the episode instead of have two separate posts for them.
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-Dan
This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase, My Goodness. How can My Goodness euphemistically refer to a god, when the words god and good are not etymologically related? And did Shakespeare start this one? Bonus: John Gilroy's Guinness campaign and Goldilocks' mattress.
Copyright 2023 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved
This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase, Face the Music. Dan turns into an old man and yells at clouds while Shauna misses Bill and Ted. Bonus: Dan confuses Hugh Grant and John Hannah, then shares his dice collection. #BunnyTrails
Copyright 2023 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved
Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
Episode 191: Face the Music
Record Date: April 24, 2023
Air Date: May 3, 2023
Intro
Dan:
Welcome to Bunny Trails, a whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase.
I’m Dan Pugh
Shauna:
And I’m Shauna Harrison
Each week we take an idiom or other turn of phrase and try to tell the story from its entry into the English language, to how it’s used today.
Opening Hook
Have you ever made a decision that wasn’t the best or perhaps made a mistake that you knew was going to get you into trouble? There is a certain point where you have to decide if you’re going to run away or just go in and deal with the consequences. Which are you? Do you hide or do you take a deep breath and go face the music?
Meaning
The idiom face the music truly means to face the consequences of one’s actions. This typically refers to negative consequences. We see scenarios in movies frequently where someone has created this big lie or story that eventually everyone is going to find out about. It’s all going to come out in the end. What will the character do when it’s time to face the music?
Oxford English Dictionary gives us this definition,
Quote
to face the music: to accept or confront the inevitable, or the unpleasant consequences of one's actions.
End quote
https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/67426?redirectedFrom=face+the+music#eid134064993
The origin of this phrase is uncertain, but there are several theories.
One theory suggests that the phrase comes from the world of theatre, where actors would "face the music" by turning to the orchestra pit to receive their cues. This would require them to confront the reality of the situation, including any mistakes they might have made.
Another theory is that the phrase comes from military tradition, where soldiers who were being court-martialed would be forced to "face the music" by standing in front of the regimental band as they played a funeral march.
A similar theory described those who’d been dishonorably discharged being asked to leave the field of battle. As they made their exit, the military drummers would play a march signaling their shame to the rest of the soldiers.
Kind of dark, right?
Regardless of its exact origins, the phrase has been in use since at least the early 1800s and remains a popular idiom today.
The earliest use of this idiom that I was able to find in print is from the year 1800 in The Works of Charles Reade: Put yourself in his place. Now, I was unable to access more of the text but we do have these few sentences,
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As for Henry, he felt quite triumphant and grand, and consoled her in an off-hand, hearty way. “Come, cheer up, and face the music. They have all forgotten you by this time, and when they do see you again, you shall be as good as the best of them.”
End quote
I can imagine a variety of situations where this comment would work… maybe the person he’s talking to had done something embarrassing, perhaps flopped during a performance, or something like that. And he’s saying, hey, they won’t even remember who you are. But there’s nothing else to do but go face them and whatever the consequences might be.
The next item comes from the July 26, 1844 edition of the Green-Mountain Freeman out of Montpelier, Vermont.
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