1.Deadpan;To Tread Water;To Rearrange the Furniture 1
2.To Buck Someone Up;To Take Somebody to the Woodshed 4
3.On the Ropes;To Get to the Heart of Something;Lame Duck 7
4.Arm-twisting;Back-room Deal;Break-even Deal 10
5.Cliffhange;To Clear the Final Hurdle;To Cross the Finish Line 13
6.A Shotgun Marriage;A Marriage Made in Heaven;To Play Cop;to Play God 16
7.Achilles Heel;Off the Wall;Off the Beam 19
8.Tour de Force;Pink Slip;Sin Tax 22
9.Light at the End of the Tunnel;On the Lam;Linchpin 25
10.Yellow Ribbon;Yellow Pages;Yellow Journalism 28
11.To Water Down;Straitjacket;To Have the Upper Hand 31
12.To Pull Up Stakes;The Deck is Stacked Against Someone;Fast Track 34
13.To Pin Hopes on Something;Last-ditch;To Rub Someone the Wrong Way 37
14.To Cross One's Fingers;Backwater;To Speak One's Mind 40
15.Bean Counting;To Bleed Red Ink;To Stir Up a Hornet's Nest;Full of Beans 43
16.To Play Ball;Nuts and Bolts;To Throw In the Towel 46
17.To Take Stock of;Second Wind;Wish List 49
18.A Last Hurrah;Rough-and-Tumble;One-boat or Two-boat Trip 52
19.The Shoe Is on the Other Foot;Kid Glove Treatment;Blow-Hard 55
20.The Buck Stops Here;Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk;To Jump on the Bandwagon 59
21.Cabin Fever;To Be Snowed Under;Out of the Woods 62
22.To Wear One's Heart on One's Sleeve;The Way to a Man's Heart;To Open One's Heart 65
23.To Skate on Thin Ice;To Break the Ice;To Put on Ice 68
24.High-five;Second to None;Monday-morning Quarterback;Twenty-twenty Hindsight 72
25.To Close Ranks;Up for Grabs;Murphy's Law;At the Eleventh Hour 75
26.A Slap on the Wrist;To Eat Crow;to Short-circuit 78
27.Ghost Employees;Sweetheart Deal 81
28.To Dress to the Nines;To Burn a Hole in One's Pocket 84
29.Kickbacks;A Roll of the Dice 87
30.Underdog;A Long-shot;Dark Horse 90
31.Slapdash;Across-the-board;Back-of-the-envelope 93
32.In Cahoots with;To Pay Lip Service;Hare-brained 96
33.Smoking Gun;Cash Cows;Piggyback 99
34.To Get a Kick out of;Sticker Shock;A Stiff Upper Lip 102
35.Crunch Time;Job Lock;A Shot in the Arm 105
36.To Hunker Down;To Hold the High Ground;Trench Warfare 108
37.Out to Lunch;To Be Backed into a Corner;Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea;To Spell Out 111
38.Comeback Kid;To Be Saved by the Bell;Benchwarmer 114
39.To Bring to One's Knees;A Leg Up;On Tenterhooks 117
40.Swing Voters;Down to the Wire;In over One's Head 120
41.To Bring Home the Bacon;Cliffhanger;The Burning Question 123
42.True Blue;Buzzword;Bounceback 126
43.Mission Creep;Hotbed;Well-heeled 129
44.Football.Widow;Nail-biter;Back on Track 132
45.Empty Suit;To Tune Out;Basket Case 135
46.To Run Scared;To Spin One's Wheels;Bumper Crop 138
47.Hogwash;To Take the Point;To Walk a Tightrope 141
48.Behind the Eight-ball;Dear John Letter Payback Time 144
49.To Jump the Gun;To Stick One's Neck Out;To Grit One's Teeth 147
50.Across-the-board;To Raise a Red Flag;At the Drop of a Hat 150
51.Gimmick;To Scope out;Elbow Room 154
52.A Jump Start;Cracker-jack;Up-and-coming 157
53.Hype;Hoopla;Plug 160
54.Hacker;Geek;Snail Mail 163
55.Talking Heads;Sound Bites;Stake-Out 166
索引 169