bite the dust死亡

【使用地区】：美国

【释义】：

To die．Whenever we hear of another desperado biting the dust in Western films，we are hearing an almost literal translation of a line found in Homer’s Iliad，written thousands of years ago．American poet William Cullen Bryant translated the words in 1870：“…his fellow warriors，many a one，Fall round him to earth and bite the dust．”Earlier，Alexander Pope had eloquently translated the phrase as“bite the bloody sand”and poet William Cowper had it，literally，as“bite the ground．”

此词意为“死去”。这一短语出自数千年前荷马名著《伊利亚特》(古希腊描写特洛伊战争的英雄史诗)，按其字面意思直译是“啃泥土”。在美国西部电影中，我们可以听到，当有那一个亡命之徒死去时，有人会说他去“啃泥土了”。美国诗人William Cullen Bryant在1870年的译文是：“……他的很多战友／在他周围倒下啃泥土了。”更早些时候，Alexander Pope把此短语生动地译为bite the bloody sand(啃染血的沙土)，而诗人william Cowper直译为bite the ground(啃大地)。