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- Topic: French >
- "Un autre mord la poussière."
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Despite the discussion above i still don't get the context for using such a sentence. The translation is probably obvious to native English. But even the links did not clarity it for me. Can someone explain please
"Biting the dust" is what happens when you fall face first into the dirt. It can mean a few things: for a person to die (though that would be a very crude way saying it - do not use at a funeral!), a machine to break, or in the case of the Queen song, for a competitor to lose/fall out of the competition. https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/bites+the+dust
According to Word Reference, "mordre la poussière" means "to lose, to suffer a defeat" (https://www.wordreference.com/fren/mordre%20la%20poussi%C3%A8re). Can it also mean "to fail" and "to be killed", as the English idiom ?
I believe the expression originates with horses rather than humans. Imagine a horse running along, when suddenly its legs give out and it collapses. When it falls, its mouth hits the ground and so, in a way, it "bites the dust." It is a euphemism for death under exertion.
The plosive 'b' and 'd' in English give the phrase urgency and violence, whereas the softer 'm' and particularly the '...oussiere' have the opposite effect. But I suppose with practice- I have, you can tell - you could sing this rhymically in time to Queen as as 'Un-au-tremord la-pouss-iere' whicjih is what they do 'An - oth - erone bites-the -dust'.
And another one bites, and another ones bites, another one bites the dust
[With all due respect - and without a timestamp on comments] may I suggest you read existing responses before commenting(?)
Kira Queen Daisan no Bakudan Bites Za Dusto! ^_^
Can't believe I found a JoJo reference on Duolingo. That's nice.
1453
Well, sort of, but bites the dust has more of a meaning than defeated. You can say it about something you've thrown out - say, you're cleaning out your closet and throwing away clothes. As you toss something into the garbage can, you say - another one bites the dust. The piece of clothing isn't defeated. it's gone.
I don't understand, this phrase either in English or French. Is it a metaphor?
It’s a song by Queen. I think the metaphor comes from cowboy movies when a baddy gets shot and comes off their horse head first into the dusty track or desert. It’s a metaphor for your enemies being destroyed.
