Amy Lesiewicz (asker) Feb 22, 2013:

;-) No worries, Jack! I didn't thick you were literally suggesting translation by omission... I'm reminded of a discussion some colleagues and I had back in Moscow when translating a huge market overview for the real estate surrounding Moscow intended for dachas. Our Russian colleagues weren't sure that we should translate дача as "dacha"; they wanted "cabin" or "cottage". My American colleague and I tried to convince them that those words have other connotations that aren't appropriate for the Russian market, and that any potential investor in real estate in the Moscow outskirts would know what a dacha is. When I said, "Who's going to read this report? People who have studied the Russian real estate market enough to know what a dacha is," my Russian friends laughed at me. "Amy," they said, "you're so naive! Who's going to read this report? No one!" Too true. Potential investors will read the introduction, then flip to the last page where the appraised price is, and skip the 90 or so pages in between. But it was still fun to translate!

Jack slep Feb 22, 2013:

Amy, sorry you took me seriously. For 62 years I've taken R>E translation very seriously. I just don't take myself seriously. I translated the Russian Forestry Journal for years; if I can be of any serious help, seriously, let me know.

Amy Lesiewicz (asker) Feb 22, 2013:

Thanks Jack, In this case leaving it out isn't quite an option... my PM is Russian-German-English trilingual (he translates EN>RU but outsources RU>EN to me), so he'll know if I leave things out! Luckily he understands that this particular source text is extremely poorly written, and the end client knows it too, so my job is just to do the best I can with what I've got... Not my favorite project, but he's a good client who usually provides me with really good-quality source texts, so, I'll put up with a crummy project every now and then!

Thanks all!

Jack slep Feb 22, 2013:

Good choice, Amy! You have two choices: When in doubt, leave it out, nobody will know the difference; or be as nebulous as you can and you done dood dad! Proud of ya!

Jack slep Feb 22, 2013:

Mikhail, I don't see any big connection between "сойти с пробега" and "сойти с дистанции" but if it sounds good to you it sounds goods to me, meaning neither of us knows what it means LOL!

Amy Lesiewicz (asker) Feb 22, 2013:

Thanks everyone! I think I will go with "dropped out of the running." I think it fits my context--some suppliers have left the market, whether due to financial difficulties, regulatory pressures, etc. or by choice--we simply don't know why... I think "dropped out of the running" covers all of these possibilities. Thanks especially to rns for getting me most of the way there!

Mikhail Korolev Feb 22, 2013:

Jack, I think "сойти с пробега" means the same as "сойти с дистанции". Also, "сойти с дистанции", as a figurative expression, sounds more natural to me than "сойти с пробега".

http://phraseology.academic.ru/12613/Сойти_с_дистанции

СХОДИТЬ С ДИСТАНЦИИ. СОЙТИ С ДИСТАНЦИИ. Нов. Разг. Переставать участвовать в каком-либо деле, выбывать из числа участников; отходить от дел (из-за усталости, возраста и т. п.). — Начиналась новая эра в истории авиации, да только мне уж сходить было пора с дистанции. Уходя, я подарил молодому лётчику Олегу свой планшет и оставил шкафчик в раздевалке (В. Арсеньев. Свой след в небе).

Jack slep Feb 22, 2013:

Usuallly "сходить с пробега" means "to go on the run." Whether here it means they took off for various reasons, under various circumstances, or they lost their zhopa and business failed, I don't know. Maybe later context will tell.