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In this article from The Economist it says:

  • As Britons took to holidaying in the actual Mediterranean, some began to decline; austerity and covid-19 finished them off.

The short line " some began to decline" reads as incomplete. Did it omit anything? What is "some" referring to? The elderly?

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    In isolation it means that some Britons began to decline and were then finished off. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, or is much less elegant than The Economist usually manages. I suspect that the preceding sentence, or two, might be necessary to parse this one.
    – High Performance Mark
    Commented Jan 31, 2023 at 8:07
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    I'm unable to read the whole article, but it's about leisure centres in the UK, so it is presumably some of those which began to decline.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jan 31, 2023 at 8:29
  • Given that the OP presumably had the entire article available, as did @michael harvey, one wonders hoe
    – Xanne
    Commented Jan 31, 2023 at 12:22
  • …why the op asks at the expense of the regulars.
    – Xanne
    Commented Jan 31, 2023 at 12:45

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The relevant section of the article (in The Economist dated 28 January 2023) is below. 'Some' refers to 'The indoor leisure centres of the 1970s and 1980s'.

The indoor leisure centres of the 1970s and 1980s were about family and fun.

Their pools were curvy and fringed with trees. You walked into the water via gently sloping beaches; the leisure centres’ architects had discovered that many Britons could barely swim. They had wave machines and waterslides, and some served alcohol. Their designers aimed to bring the Mediterranean to ordinary Britons. As Britons took to holidaying in the actual Mediterranean, some began to decline; austerity and covid-19 finished them off.

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