'吊緊鹽水' 英文是什麼?

"吊緊鹽水"係廣東人講法﹐是不能直接翻譯做英文﹐外國人會用 "trying to survive/struggle to survive"
很多美國零售商嘗試在經濟低迷時繼續生存。(=吊緊鹽水):
1) Many US retailers are trying to survive the recession.
2) During a recession, many US retailers struggle to survive.

2008-12-02 08:02:01 補充：
life is on a string = 命懸一線, 應該都可以的。

'吊緊鹽水'
In English, there's a sentence is quite suitable to this:
Life is on a string.
eg.
After the car accident, Ted's life is on a string.

The international financial recession takes a lot of business on to a string.