Every Saturday I’ll give you a couple of idioms to learn. An idiom is a saying or phrase whose meaning cannot be taken from the literal meanings of the words.
in the black: making a profit.
Example:
It took the struggling start-up several quarters of hard work before they were finally able to operate in the black.
red ink: operating at a loss, in debt.
Example:
Onerous regulations hurt small businesses the most, causing many to shrink their workforce even further in an effort to stem the tide of red ink.