red flag 警訊

red flag 紅旗


An indication that something is may be wrong.

red flag 一般是指「開戰旗；革命旗」。在商場上，red flag指的是某事可能出錯的徵兆(indication)或警訊。一件事一旦有了red flag，則可能有危險，應該停止進行。


A: Did you get the down payment from the buyer on the new sales order?

B: No. Their accountant asked me if we can ship the products without it. Also they didn’t finish paying for their last order yet.

A: That’s a big red flag. I don’t think they have any money.

B: Really? Too bad they used to be a good customer. What should I do now?


A：你有收到買家新訂單的頭期款嗎？

B：沒有。他們的會計師問我可否在沒有頭期款的情況下寄貨。而且他們還沒完成上個訂單的付款。

A：這是大警訊啊。我不覺得他們公司有任何錢。

B：真的啊？他們曾經是很好的顧客；太可惜了。那我現在該怎麼辦？


例句

1. “I would not invest in this company. Their financial report is full of red flags.

「我不會投資這家公司。他們的財務報告充斥著警訊。

2. There have been a lot of employees laid off from this company lately. That is a red flag they may be going out of business.

這家公司最近解雇了很多員工。這是他們可能會倒閉的警訊。


單字及片語

down payment（分期付款的）頭期款

order (n.) 訂單

accountant (n.) 會計師會計人員

ship (v.) 運送

invest (v.) 投資

financial (n.) 財務的

lay off 解雇

go out of business 倒閉；結束營業