To Bite the Dust
Morder el Polvo
Meaning:
Somebody who bites the dust is that one who either has died or who has been unsuccessful in getting a goal.
Origin:
This expression was firstly used in the Iliad. In it, Homer describes how many warriors who were defeated fell to the earth as a heavy sack. They hit their faces on the ground. Consequently, they bit the dust. When the bodies were taken away to bury, their faces had dust in their mouths. Nowadays, a person bites the dust not because he/she has died but as a signal of being defeated.
Example:
• When we were arriving to the arena where the basketball final game was going to be played, our contenders began threatening us so as to scare us. They told us that we should call our moms because that night we were going to bite the dust.