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

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", 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, The Sisters-In-Law, ch. 10:

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

   • 2006, Candice Millard, "The River of Doubt," Time, 25 Jun.:

     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