taste of own medicine

taste of own medicine

Meaning

• when someone gets the same bad treatment that he has been giving others
• a sample of the unpleasantness that someone has been giving others
• do the same bad thing to a person who has done it to you
• when someone is mistreated the same way he has mistreated others

Example Sentences

1. I'm tired of him always finding faults with me. I'm going to give him a taste of his own medicine.
2. Its not for nothing that people are calling you names; you're getting a taste of your own medicine.
3. Don't be rude to others. You won't like it when you get a taste of your own medicine.
4. The players of that team were hurling abuses at their opponents, but they didn't like it when they got a taste of their own medicine from the fans.
5. He is always late for appointments and keeps people waiting, so we decided to give him a taste of his own medicine.
6. If he doesn't change his behaviour by reasoning, he's going to get a taste of his own medicine.

Origin

This origin of this phrase can be found in one of Aesop's fables. It is about a swindler who sells fake medicine, claiming that it cures anything. When he himself falls ill, people give him his own medicine, which he knows will not cure him.