painting the town red
words from Tawona: ‘just some phrases that came to mind: ‘paint the town red’ or ‘having a ball’, both meaning to have a good time. the opposite side of that would be the idea of being ‘in the red’, where a cheque might bounce - 2 sides of red. the idea of trade is linked to accumulating wealth, with those better of from trade being better of in terms of gain. to gain an advantage through trade - in tennis you gain advantage from a deadlock (deuce) at the expense of the player at the other end of the court or ’sporting transaction’.
painting the town red :
meaning engage in a riotous spree.
origin The allusion is to the kind of unruly behaviour that results in much blood being spilt
It is sometimes said to come from the US slang use of “paint” to mean “drink”, When someone’s drunk their face and nose are flushed red, hence the analogy.
Rudyard Kipling. in his book Abaft Funnel, 1889: “They would do their best towards painting that town [Chicago] in purest vermilion.”