Best idiomatic translation

What is the best idiomatic translation of "Perdre son statut, décrocher." Today's Le Mond BTW.

It's the "décrocher" that has stumped me.

Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on October 8, 2009 at 4:58pm

It always helps to give a bit more context, but generally décrocher has the sense of "give up the fight" (literally and figuratively), and extends to ideas like "lose concentration", "lose willpower", "slack off", "stop giving it one's 100%". You could even think about idioms such as "switch off", "take their foot of the accelerator", "step down a gear"-- maaaybe even "take their eye off the ball" etc.

It's often applied to sportspeople, school pupils. E.g. "après deux heures de mathématiques, les élèves décrochent" - "after 2 hours of maths, the pupils switch off".

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Permalink Reply by Pete Laubscher on October 8, 2009 at 5:11pm

Thnks.

So: "To lose/destroy one's status is to give up the fight"?

What floored me is the absense of 'is' in the French.

Those words started an article by a psychiatrist on the dangers that youth face today.