🗓️ Idiom: In the Red (adj)
💬 Meaning
- To be operating at a financial loss; to owe more money than one has.
- This idiom is commonly used to describe individuals, businesses, or accounts that are in debt.
🧠 Example Sentences
- The company has been in the red for three consecutive quarters.
- After all the expenses, their bank account was deep in the red.
- If we don’t cut costs soon, we’ll be in the red by the end of the year.
🏛️ Origin
The phrase comes from traditional accounting practices, where losses were written in red ink and profits in black ink. Being “in the red” meant the books showed a negative balance. This colour-based system is still reflected in financial reporting today.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Due to poor sales, the small business ended the year __________.
Answer
in the red
2. Choose the correct meaning of “in the red”:
A) To be making a profit
B) To have negative money
C) To cancel a contract
Answer
B) To have negative money
3. Rewrite the sentence using: In the Red
“Our expenses are higher than our revenue this month.”
Answer
We are in the red this month.
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👉 Finance and Accounting Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
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