shoot, shovel and shut up
v. phr.— «Worse, the law may actually speed up extinctions. Farmers have an incentive to destroy protected species before the biologists find them—a practice known as “shoot, shovel and shut up.”» —“The overcrowded ark” in Los Angeles Economist (United Kingdom) Sept. 6, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The word curfew comes from a French expression that means “cover your fire” and goes all the way back to a similar phrase in Latin. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Curfew From a Command to Cover Fires” Hey...
The expression If you don’t chance your arm, you won’t break your neck makes use of the sense of break your neck meaning “to go all out.” The break your neck part may refer to having success from giving all your effort...