面对困难时期，可能有很多公司倒闭了，也有很多人虽然可能与失败只有一步之遥，也还在继续坚持着，挺过难关，那我们如何用英语去表达这种岌岌可危的状态呢？

C: Hi guys. I’m Chris.
 
J: And I’m Joy. Today we are gonna talk about the idiom: hang on by your fingernails. It means doing something in a very difficult situation and you are almost gonna fail. You can use it like this:
I’m hanging on by my fingernails. / She was hanging on by her fingernails. / They have been hanging on by their fingernails.
 
C: Now, let’s imagine someone went over a cliff. And the only things that are stopping him from falling are his fingernails. That would be a very tough situation. So maybe you had been spending too much money last month on your credit card. You realize that this month you have to pay for the debt but you barely have enough to pay it back. You can say: I’m really hanging on by my fingernails this month. Another good example is that you are working on a project for your company, but you are falling behind on it and not being able to catch up. So you are just hanging on by your fingernails. Here’s an example of how we can use it in a conversation:

 

 
J: Hey Sam. Did you hear that the stock market has been declining recently?
 
C: Yeah, you are right. They really dropped a lot. The stocks I invested are not doing so well. I’m just barely hanging on by my fingernails.
 

 

J: Are you hanging on by your fingernails when it comes to your English? You can contact us for our private English classes!
 
C: And if you enjoy our channel remember to share our content with your friends and family! Talk to you next time! Bye!

falling behind:    落后，落下了（指不能按时完成）