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Losing money. Being in debt.
虧損，欠債；
it's believed this phrase originates from accountants who are selective on which color ink they use when making entries in a firm's book.
傳說這個詞組的來源與會計有關。會計在公司的賬本上記賬的時候，用什么顏色的筆很有講究。
If someone is doing business at a loss, instead of using black ink, accountants will use red to write down the deficit.
如果有虧損，會計就會用紅色的筆標出赤字，而不是用黑色的。
Indeed, the color red is prominently used in businesses to signify a loss, while black is used to indicate a profit.
的確，在商業環境中，紅色常常用來表示虧損，黑色用來表示收益。
Thus, a company that's interested in making money would desire to be 'in the black' rather than be 'in the red.'
因此，想賺錢的公司都很希望自己是in the black而不是in the red.
This idiom seemingly originates from the early 1900s.
這個詞組應該是起源于19世紀。
There are numerous newspapers from that period of time which use the phrase when referring to businesses functioning at a loss.
在那個時候，有很多報紙，上面用到這個詞組來描述虧損的企業。
For example, the Daily Globe from 1927, under the subheading 'Failed to get Interest,' reads:
比如，Daily Globe在1972年的副標題為Failed to get Interest的文章中這么寫道：
"I regret to report to you that the people who put money into it failed by $30,000 to earn even operating expense and depreciation. The company is in the red all the time."
我很遺憾地告訴大家，投錢進去的人虧損了3萬美元，甚至連營運和折舊費用都沒有賺回來，公司一直在虧損之中。
For example:
舉例：
1.His company, however, ended up in the red. It lost more money than it earned. The company was no longer profitable.
但是，他的公司最后還是虧損了。虧的錢比賺的還多。現在已經不盈利了；
2.Work out how much sleep you owe your body and find out how to recover if your sleep account is in the red.
算出你到底缺少了多少睡眠。如果你的睡眠帳戶處于赤字的話，要用多少時間來補。
