What does "black mark" mean?

[Ajjab]

Test No. incompl/inter-2 "Like a red rag", question 6

She lost the company a lot of money last week and as a result has got a ......... mark against her name.

(a) red
(b) blue
(c) white
(d) black

Test No. incompl/inter-2 "Like a red rag", answer 6

She lost the company a lot of money last week and as a result has got a black mark against her name.

Correct answer: (d) black

Your answer was: incorrect
She lost the company a lot of money last week and as a result has got a red mark against her name.
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why choose this color?

Ajjab

[Alan]

This colour suggests that it is a bad mark.
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[Mudium]

but i think even red showes the same meaning right? then why cant we use red hear
jyo

[Saneta]

,,She lost the company a lot of money last week...''=,,She lost a lot of money for company last week...''?

[BenDover23]

Is "against" always follows the expression "black mark"? For example can i say "I made a mess of some situation. I've got a black mark on me" ..?

[Beeesneees]

That sounds as if you physically have been daubed with a mark. The usual phrase uses 'against'.
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[Benchy]

hi to all,
how about the black listed.

[Beeesneees]

Hello benchy,

That is similar usage of black in that it indicates something negative, but the meaning is not quite the same as 'being given a black mark'
a black mark = she has done something wrong and is in a degree of disgrace because of it.
blacklisted = put on a list of people who are banned from somewhere or denied some sort of privilege.

Also similar:
blackballed = rejected by means of a secret ballot. Historically those being balloted would be given a black ball and would be asked to secretly place the white ball in a bag is they approved of the candidate or the black ball in a bag if they disapproved of him. When the contents were examined if there were a single black ball it would often be enough to mean that the candidate would not be admitted, and this is where this particular phrase originated.
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[Saneta]

'She lost the company a lot of money' - for me there is some missing word in this part of the sentence, please explain it to me... I asked about it some longer time ago, please look above...and please help,
thanks :-)

[Beeesneees]

There's nothing missing.

The company lost money because of what she did.
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[Saneta]

B, your above sentence is very clear, but this one:
She lost the company a lot of money last week, I don't know why : the company is in the denominator and not in the dative after: she lost?, it doesn't make sense in Polish.

Thank You.