Reader question: Please explain this headline (The Guardian, March 25, 2016): Michael Rosen on academy schools: ‘Local democracy bites the dust’. Bites “the dust”, what dust? My comments: Dust in this ...

Dust in this phrase refers to the dirt on the floor, or the open ground rather, the earth itself. It has nothing to do with Beijing’s polluted air and smog, thank heaven. Literally, if someone bites ...