A: The boss is totally going to chew us out if he hears that we lost that big client.

B: But there is nothing we could do, since our competitor offered a much lower price.

A: True. I guess we have to face the music at the weekly meeting tomorrow.

Note: This idiom means “to scold harshly.” We can say either “to chew someone out” or “to eat someone out.” Originating in the military, this American slangy term began to be used during World War I and soon spread to civilian life. For example: The sergeant chewed the corporal out; then the corporal chewed the private out.