Tailed down to nothing

Question

HiIs the description natural, especially the red part?We walked in the sun, hot and sweaty, hoping to get out of the area unscathed. The rough, thorns-strewn path, after an hour or so, trailed down to nothing. Thanks,Tom

Office English · Accepted Answer

Sounds natural, though trailed down can be written as diminished.

Anonymous · Answer

Mr. TomWe walked in the sun, hot and sweaty, hoping to get out of the area unscathed.

Disjointed. The sentence suggests that they might be scathed if they don't walk in the sun hot and sweaty, which is nonsense on its face, because what you are describing is them being scathed already, and even ignoring that, simple walking however uncomfortable seems insufficient to be their chosen remedy.

Mr. TomThe rough, thorns-strewn path, after an hour or so, trailed down to nothing.

It's "thorn-strewn", but even that is a bit off. It sounds like somebody scattered thorns there, but what you mean is that there were thorny plants growing over the path. Maybe "bramble-choked". To say a path trailed sounds like some kind of pointless pun. Besides, in the sense "dwindle", it's "trail off", not "trail down", and it does not apply here—a voice can trail off but not a path. "Faded to nothing" would be better.

Tailed down to nothing

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