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In the black

In the black

In the black

(OP)
1. Does the heading mean in profit or making losses?

2. Which is the right phrase: under the circumstances or in the circumstances ?

Thanks.

RE: In the black

1.  Black is profit, red is losses.


Regards,

Cory

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

RE: In the black

Just to be clear, "in the red" or "swimming in red" refer to losing money.

TTFN

RE: In the black

Black and Red are used for positive and negative respectively, and as CoryPad said, black represents a company making money and red indicates losing money.

But just because black and red represent positve and negative does not always mean that black is good and red is bad.  In golf, you want you score in red numbers, not black numbers.

I've always associated "under" with circumstances, but "in" with a situation.

Under these circumstances -- In this situation

RE: In the black

(OP)
Since circumstances surround you. It should be "in", I thought. Am I totally wrong ?

RE: In the black

I believe your logic is very circumstantial.  If they surround you enough you could be both in and under.

I would have believed one would use in when the circumstances already exist whereas one would use under when the circumstances do not exist yet.

Another perspective is to look at how we use the word conditions.  Since they are synonymous their conditions of use should also be alike.

RE: In the black

The "black" and "red" discussion missed the point slightly.  

In old-time ledgers, you used black ink for a "normal" entry - for example, an expense in an account designated for debits would be black.  If you returned the merchandise the entry in the "expense" account would be red because it was added to a designated-negative account.  "In the Red" means that when you add up all the accounts (each with it's proper sign) you have more debits than credits and the total is in the "wrong" color.

David

RE: In the black

If you're in the black I guess one could say they are in the pink financially.

In Taiwan Red indicates a positive gain while green indicates a negative. Go figure!

RE: In the black

in finance:
black = positive (+)
red = negative (-)

in electronics:
black = negative (-)
red = positive (+)

hmmm....

Due to illness, the part of The Tick will be played by... The Tick.
http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

RE: In the black

Accountants do lots of things best known to themselves:

Negative numbers are usually shown in red text as noted above, but are also frequently seen enclosed in parenthesis. In the left column, below, are example numbers that most of us recognise, and in the right column are the accountant's format:

1201  = 1201

-1201 = 1201
-1201 = (1201)
-1201 = (1201)


Does anyone know the origin of this custom?

-----------------------------------

Start each new day with a smile.

Get it over with.

RE: In the black

When I did Accountancy 101 way back in my first year of university, I was taught that the parentheses were used because a minus sign can be easily overlooked when totalling along column of numbers, whereas a number in parentheses cannot easily be mistaken for a positive number. Bear in mind that until very recently, ledgers were always filled in and totalled by hand, so missing a single minus sign could take a long time to sort out when the books didn't balance. I suspect that the modern use of parentheses in spreadsheets etc is more a matter of style and custom, to conform to time-honoured practice.

I don't know if this is the whole explanation, but it seems to make sense.

RE: In the black

What about my rule?

Black is red and plus is minus.

I use it now and then to check if people are really (I mean REALLY) listening to what I say. People mostly nod knowingly. I then ask them to repeat what I just said. And - this is interesting - many do repeat the words just the way I said them. Without blinking. Try it!

RE: In the black

CC,

I hope someone doesn't read your post of 3/25, and go out to my auto and try to hook up my battery cables.

rmw

RE: In the black

CajunCenturion,

See TheTick's post from 2004 March 25.

Regards,

Cory

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

RE: In the black

In that light I understand, but keep in mind the title of the thread, and the discussion is about red and black with respect to business and profit.  In other words, about how red and black are used to indicate being above and/or below some baseline.

It was several posts after mine that TheTick introduced electronics into the discussion.  When you take things out of order, or out of context, you will almost always get the meanings twisted.

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