paying the fiddler
Settling your debts
Paying the fiddler means accepting the consequences of one's actions or pleasures, especially after indulgence.
The image is of dancing to music all night, then settling the bill: We partied through our twenties, but now we're paying the fiddler.
Often appears as pay the fiddler or in the fuller form he who dances must pay the fiddler.
- paying the piperSuffering delayed consequences
- repercussionsIndirect results of actions
- comeuppanceDeserved punishment or rebuke
- chickens come homePast wrongs revisit their source
- just desertsMerited reward or punishment
debt · settling accounts · liability · responsibility · dues · aftermath · obligation · piper · atonement · moral debt · justice · penalty · compensation · fee · duty · restitution · reckoning · fallout
paying the fiddlergetting away with it
slipping through the cracks · having one's cake and eating it too · passing the buck · free ride · freeloading
paying the fiddlerpassing the buck
Transferring responsibility to others
blaming others · making excuses · pointing fingers · scapegoating
paid, payer, payers, payment, payments, payable, repaid, repaying, fiddle