laugh on the other side of one's face

English

Alternative forms

• laugh on the other side of one's mouth
• laugh on the wrong side of one's face
• laugh on the wrong side of one's mouth
• laugh out of the other side of one's face
• laugh out of the other side of one's mouth (US)
• laugh out of the wrong side of one's face
• laugh out of the wrong side of one's mouth

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

laugh on the other side of one's face

1. (UK, intransitive, informal) To experience discomfiture after displaying cockiness.

   You'll be laughing on the other side of your face when the police find out you've been lying to them.

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: hymy hyytyy
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: faire moins le malin (fr)

See also

• have the last laugh
• he who laughs last laughs best
• talk/speak out of both sides of one's mouth

Further reading

• “be laughing on the other side of your face”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “you ll be laughing on the other side of your face” (US) / “you ll be laughing on the other side of your face” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “laugh on the other side of one's face”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “somebody will be laughing on the other side of their face” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “laugh on the other side of ones face”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “laugh on the other side of one's face”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.