pay the piper

English

Etymology

Sense 1 is from the English phrase who pays the piper calls the tune; sense 2 may allude to the pied piper.

Pronunciation

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Verb

pay the piper (third-person singular simple present pays the piper, present participle paying the piper, simple past and past participle paid the piper)

1. (idiomatic) To pay expenses for something, and thus be in a position to be in control.
   • 1898 August 1, Swami Vivekananda, “To Swami Brahmananda”, in The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda:

     Those that pay the piper must command the tune.

   • 1905, George Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara:

     Be off with you, my boy, and play with your caucuses and leading articles and historic parties and great leaders and burning questions and the rest of your toys. I am going back to my counting house to pay the piper and call the tune.

2. (idiomatic) To pay a monetary or other debt or experience unfavorable consequences, especially when the payment or consequences are inevitable or a result of something one has enjoyed.
   • 1831, April 16, Dandy Doricourt, letter to the editors, The New-York mirror, volume 8, issue number 41, page 325:

     [T]he very constitution of society is based upon this volunteer system of paying the piper. Honest men pay the piper for rogues, and full purses for empty ones.

   • 1921, Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton, chapter 10, in The Sisters-In-Law:

     He wanted to get rich too quickly I suppose. . . . He's got to pay the piper.

   • 2006 June 25, Candice Millard, “The River of Doubt”, in Time:

     Roosevelt never fully recovered his health, but he refused any regret. "I am always willing to pay the piper," he once wrote, "when I have had a good dance."

Synonyms

• (to control by paying for): pay the fiddler
• (to incur negative consequences of one's decision): pay the price, pay the penalty