"Face the Music"

[nq:1]I wonder if any of the learned contributors to this group can tell me where the phrase "Face the Music" comes from?[/nq]
The earliest cite in OED is :
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John Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply

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Sorry, but this doesn't explain the derivation of the expression. It just shows that it was used in 1850.

Alasdair Baxter, Nottingham, UK.Tel +44 115 9705100; Fax +44 115 9423263

"It's not what you say that matters but how you say it. It's not what you do that matters but how you do it"

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[nq:1]Sorry, but this doesn't explain the derivation of the expression. It just shows that it was used in 1850.[/nq]
Some authorities believe that "face the music" comes from the musical theater, and refers to the pit orchestra that the actors or performers must face while they are on stage. "Facing the music," in this scenario, would be an allusion to actors' dogged determ

[nq:1]"It's not what you say that matters but how you say it. It's not what you do that matters but how you do it"[/nq]
It's not what you know but whom you blow."

Reinhold (Rey) Aman

[nq:2]Sorry, but this doesn't explain the derivation of the expression. It just shows that it was used in 1850.[/nq]
[nq:1]Some authorities believe that "face the music" comes from the musical theater, and refers to the pit orchestra that the ... I vote for the musical theater theory. I can't believe any military would assemble a band to cashier an officer.[/nq]
Never underestimate the mil

[nq:2]Some authorities believe that "face the music" comes from the ... any military would assemble a band to cashier an officer.[/nq]
[nq:1]Never underestimate the military love of ceremonial. And not just for officers http://www.folk-network.com/products/notes/tightlittle.html

(big snip)
[nq:1]I just checked RHHDAS, which has a long entry. First is the definition "to face hardship or danger," with seven ... the definition "to face the consequences," marked "now Standard English," with citations from 1862 to 1991. Origin still a mystery.[/nq]
ProQuest has slightly earlier citations on APS Online, a database of 18th- and 19th-century American periodicals. The thre

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How about this gruesome scenario:
A prisoner is marched to a spot, blindfolded,
given a last cigarette or whatever;
he hears some drums and perhaps a bugle,
and is told to stand up straight and face the music ...

Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.

[nq:2]"It's not what you say that matters but how you say it. It's not what you do that matters but how you do it"[/nq]
[nq:1]It's not what you know but whom you blow."[/nq]
I've never heard it. A common jailbird expression, is it?

Charles Riggs
Email address: chriggs>at>eircom>dot>net

(snip)
[nq:1]ProQuest has slightly earlier citations on APS Online, a database of 18th- and 19th-century American periodicals. The three earliest, from ... p. 46 Caleb Smith preferred not to "face the music" in his District, having disappointed the hopes of his constituents.[/nq]
(snip more good stuff)
[nq:1]ProQuest has many cites for "face the music" through the 1850s in APS periodic