head above water, keep one's

Stay out of trouble, especially financial difficulties; also, keep up with work or other demands. For example, With new bills coming in every day they're barely keeping their heads above water, or The work's piling up, but I manage to keep my head above water. This expression alludes to keeping oneself from drowning. [Early 1700s] Also see in deep.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Kelly	['keli]
Beornr&Aelig;D	-	Anglo-Saxon
Ita	-	Irish
Tegwen	-	Welsh
Anastasia	ah-nah-stah-SEE-yah (Russian), a-nə-STAY-zhə (English), a-nə-STAS-yə (English), ah-nahs-TAH-syah (Spanish), ah-nahs-TAH-zyah (Italian)	Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, English, Spanish, Italian, Ancient Greek
Baltasar (1)	bahl-tah-SAHR	Spanish