你是不是会直接翻译成“死在水里”。字面意思没有错，但是引申义可不是这样啦。be dead in the water的意思更接近于一潭死水，表示“败局已定的、胎死腹中，无成功希望”，用在比较绝望无助的语境。

If something is dead in the water, it has failed and it seems impossible that it will be successful in the future.

沉沦，一蹶不振

So how does a government revive an economy that is dead in the water?

那么政府怎样才能使一蹶不振的经济起死回生呢?