"who pays the piper calls the tune" meaning in English

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Proverb

Etymology: From the classic legend, The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Head templates: {{head|en|proverb|head=who pays the piper calls the tune}} who pays the piper calls the tune
  1. The person paying for something is the one who gets to say how it should be done Synonyms: he who pays the piper calls the tune, whoever pays the piper calls the tune Related terms: money talks, you pays your money and you takes your choice, you pays your money and you takes your chances, you get what you pay for Translations (one who pays for something controls it): qui paga mana (Catalan), wä de Musik bestellt, dä bestemmp, wat se spillt (Central Franconian), kes maksab, see tellib ka muusika (Estonian), kenen leipää syöt, sen lauluja laulat (Finnish), wes Brot ich ess, des Lied ich sing [dated] (German), kto płaci, ten wymaga (Polish), кто пла́тит, тот и зака́зывает му́зыку (kto plátit, tot i zakázyvajet múzyku) (Russian), 's e am fear a phàigheas am pìobaire a stiùireas am port (Scottish Gaelic)
    Sense id: en-who_pays_the_piper_calls_the_tune-en-proverb-eYnVpBmX Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English proverbs

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for who pays the piper calls the tune meaning in English (2.3kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "From the classic legend, The Pied Piper of Hamelin.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "who pays the piper calls the tune"
      },
      "expansion": "who pays the piper calls the tune",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English proverbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The person paying for something is the one who gets to say how it should be done"
      ],
      "id": "en-who_pays_the_piper_calls_the_tune-en-proverb-eYnVpBmX",
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "money talks"
        },
        {
          "word": "you pays your money and you takes your choice"
        },
        {
          "word": "you pays your money and you takes your chances"
        },
        {
          "word": "you get what you pay for"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "he who pays the piper calls the tune"
        },
        {
          "word": "whoever pays the piper calls the tune"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
          "word": "qui paga mana"
        },
        {
          "code": "gmw-cfr",
          "lang": "Central Franconian",
          "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
          "word": "wä de Musik bestellt, dä bestemmp, wat se spillt"
        },
        {
          "code": "et",
          "lang": "Estonian",
          "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
          "word": "kes maksab, see tellib ka muusika"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
          "word": "kenen leipää syöt, sen lauluja laulat"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
          "tags": [
            "dated"
          ],
          "word": "wes Brot ich ess, des Lied ich sing"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
          "word": "kto płaci, ten wymaga"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "kto plátit, tot i zakázyvajet múzyku",
          "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
          "word": "кто пла́тит, тот и зака́зывает му́зыку"
        },
        {
          "code": "gd",
          "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
          "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
          "word": "'s e am fear a phàigheas am pìobaire a stiùireas am port"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "who pays the piper calls the tune"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "From the classic legend, The Pied Piper of Hamelin.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "who pays the piper calls the tune"
      },
      "expansion": "who pays the piper calls the tune",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "money talks"
    },
    {
      "word": "you pays your money and you takes your choice"
    },
    {
      "word": "you pays your money and you takes your chances"
    },
    {
      "word": "you get what you pay for"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proverbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The person paying for something is the one who gets to say how it should be done"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "he who pays the piper calls the tune"
    },
    {
      "word": "whoever pays the piper calls the tune"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
      "word": "qui paga mana"
    },
    {
      "code": "gmw-cfr",
      "lang": "Central Franconian",
      "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
      "word": "wä de Musik bestellt, dä bestemmp, wat se spillt"
    },
    {
      "code": "et",
      "lang": "Estonian",
      "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
      "word": "kes maksab, see tellib ka muusika"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
      "word": "kenen leipää syöt, sen lauluja laulat"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
      "tags": [
        "dated"
      ],
      "word": "wes Brot ich ess, des Lied ich sing"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
      "word": "kto płaci, ten wymaga"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "kto plátit, tot i zakázyvajet múzyku",
      "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
      "word": "кто пла́тит, тот и зака́зывает му́зыку"
    },
    {
      "code": "gd",
      "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
      "sense": "one who pays for something controls it",
      "word": "'s e am fear a phàigheas am pìobaire a stiùireas am port"
    }
  ],
  "word": "who pays the piper calls the tune"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-22 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (fc4f0c7 and c937495). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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