take one's medicine

From the idea that medicine is good for one, but often unpleasant tasting.

• "Your resistance to our class won't do you any good . If you'll come out and take your medicine like men, all right; but if you resist it will go that much harder with you."
• "if the police pick up "a real fine boy" —which most of them are — who has been fooling around, the boy's father can add a building block to Junior's personality by saying, "My boy, you know better. Now take your medicine like a man and we'll just call it one of life's lessons.”"
• "I s'pose I'll have to go back and take my medicine. Now that I've got some grub in my stomach I guess I can stand it."
• "Today he felt obliged to take his medicine, to acknowledge the apex of his life had been reached and he was plunging in a billycart down the other side."