What's the origin of the phrase 'In the red'?
The expression 'in the red' derives from the practise of using red ink to denote debt or losses on financial balance sheets. Likewise, businesses that are financially solvent are described as 'in the black'.
What does the idiom in the red mean?
: spending and owing more money than is being earned Apparently the company had been in the red for some time before it went out of business.
What does finish in the red mean?
In the red describes being in debt or losing money. ... In the black describes being solvent or accumulating money, it is the opposite of the term in the red. In the black is another phrase with a figurative meaning that has evolved from a literal meaning.
