💼 “be in the red”

What it means: To owe more than you have; to be losing money.

“The café was in the red all winter.”

Where it comes from

Ledger ink: losses entered in red, profit in black. 19th-century bookkeeping, still on every spreadsheet.

← the bottom line · all work & money idioms · back to the drawing board →

the bottom lineback to the drawing boardburn the midnight oilpay through the nosego the extra mile

More phrases, including proverbs from dozens of languages, at Proverbs of the World.