What Does “a taste of one’s own medicine” mean?
Definition:
If you give someone a taste of their own medicine, you make them experience the same bad treatment they have given to others.
Origin
The phrase comes from Aesop’s fable about a swindler who sells false medicine and claims it can cure everything. Once he gets ill, people offer him his own medicine, which he is sure will not cure him.
The phrase “what goes around comes around” has fairly the same meaning. The consequences of one’s actions will have to be dealt with eventually. The idiom alludes to someone suffering from the same unpleasant consequences that they have brought upon others.
The Hindu concept of karma is close to the meaning of this phrase. The principle states that good intentions and good actions lead to good karma and happier rebirths, whereas poor intentions and bad actions lead to negative karma and unhappy rebirths.
Variations of the phrase include:
– Give someone a dose/taste of one’s own medicine.
– Get a dose/taste of one’s own medicine.
Example(s)
Now you see how it feels to betray your closest friends! You are getting a dose of your own medicine!
Don’t be call people names. You won’t appreciate it when you get a taste of your own medicine.
