①The veteran runner was performing at the best of his career, and everyone else in the race ate his dust.

　　那个赛跑老将发挥出运动生涯中的最佳水平，其他人都望尘莫及，被远远甩在后面。

　　②We’ve been eating the competitor’s dust since they released their new line of smartphones.

　　自从竞争对手推出了新的智能手机生产线，我们一直望尘莫及。

　　为了避免和eat one’s dust混淆，我们可以将“吃土”译为eat dirt/soil或live on dirt/soil。例如：

　　① 过完“双十一”，我就要“吃土”了。

　　After November 11, I’ll have nothing but soil/dirt to eat.

　　②我花了太多的钱网购，看来下个月只能“吃土”啦。

　　I spent too much money shopping online. It seems that I will have to live on dirt next month.

　　BBC也是用eating soil表达了这一概念：

　　The term eating soil also became a trending hashtag on Weibo, a common term in China for being so poor you could only afford dirt for meals.

　　此外，“吃土”也可以借用英语现有的表达方法进行翻译，以求达意。英语中表达“不名一文”的词语有很多，比如penniless、poverty-stricken (一贫如洗)、not have a bean (身无分文)、stony-broke (身无分文)、flat broke (身无分文)、without two pennies to rub together (身无分文)、not to have a single penny left on (身无分文)、to be skint (身无分文)、on one’s uppers (穿着只剩下鞋帮、没有鞋底的鞋子，指穷困潦倒)、down and out (贫困潦倒)等等。

　　① 我如果失业了，我们就只能“吃土”了。

　　If I were unemployed we wouldn’t have a bean to spend.

　　② 我宁愿“吃土”也不愿意干那种工作。

　　I wouldn’t take that job even if I were skint.

　　① 我所有的钱都买iPhone6了，现在只有“吃土”了。

　　I have spent all my money on this iPhone 6. Now I am stony-broke.

　　西方购物节

　　其实，西方人也有类似的剁手节，比如美国感恩节后的Black Friday (黑色星期五)和Cyber Monday (网络星期一)，以及英国的Boxing Day (节礼日)等。

　　1. 黑色星期五(Black Friday)

　　“黑色星期五”是感恩节(Thanksgiving Day，11月第四个星期四)后开业的第一天，也是人们圣诞购物季的开始(the start of the Christmas shopping season)。传统上，商家用不同颜色的墨水来记账，红色表示亏损即赤字(in the red)，黑色表示盈利(in the black)，Black Friday由此而来。对于商店员工来说，这一天忙忙碌碌，也是a black day。

　　2. 网络星期一(Cyber Monday)

　　网络星期一是感恩节假期之后的第一个上班日的网购促销活动，该词最早出现在2005年11月28日Shop.org网站发布的一条新闻：Cyber Monday Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year。和Black Friday不同的是，Cyber Monday只在网络上进行交易，参与主体也是小型零售商。

　　3. 节礼日(Boxing Day)

　　节礼日是英国及英联邦国家庆贺的节日，时间在圣诞节次日，即12月26日。和圣诞节一样，节礼日也是一个购物狂欢节。

　　In the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday … It is a time when shops hold sales often with dramatic price reductions. For many merchants, Boxing Day has become the day of the year with the greatest revenue.

　　然而，从销售规模上来说，这些购物节都无法和双十一相比，CNN在对2016年双十一销售情况的报道中曾进行过比较：There’s no other shopping bonanza quite like Alibaba’s Singles Day, which has once again smashed records … The tech giant reported $17.8 billion in sales during this year’s frenzy, breaking the record of $14.3 billion set in 2015. That’s more than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

　　最后为大家奉上一组和网购相关的词语的英译：秒杀(seckilling)、预售(pre-sale)、红包(red envelopes)、优惠券(coupons)、包邮(free shipping)、七天无理由退货(7 days return)、山寨货(rip-offs/knock-offs/copycats/fakes)、差评(negative comment/feedback)、有货(in stock)、断货(out of stock)、上架新品(new product display)、品质保证(quality guarantee)、(电子)礼品卡(gift/egift cards)、加入购物车(add to cart)、下单(place your order)、快递(express delivery)、快递员(deliveryman/courier)、送货方式(shipping method)、限时抢购(flash sale)、海淘(buy products from overseas websites)、冲动购买(impulse buying)。