eat it and beat it
v. phr.— « Whatever happened to the local colloquial term for running out on a restaurant tab—“chew ‘n’ screw”? Or the more universal phrase: “eat it & beat it.”» —“IHOP loses bid to get drop on deadbeats” by Howie Carr Boston Herald (Massachusetts) Dec. 1, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Jim in Columbia, South Carolina, has noticed sportscasters’ use of the phrase on the season with reference to a period of time. This construction shows up in the sports pages as early as the 1880s, first referring to a team’s revenue and...
The slang phrase someone ate and left no crumbs means the person did something really well. In a previous call, a listener who works in theater noted the use of ate to mean “did something well,” as in they really ate that haircut! This...