There are times when it is natural and stylish to use the serious . In The Golden Man, Jókai outlines Timéa's character with a few features: "It is true that he is still a child, little more than thirteen years old; but a tall, lithe figure, and a serious, statuesque face, with perfect antique features, as if his mother had once forgotten her eyes on the Venus of Milo." In Ferenc Molnár's novel The Pál Street Boys, the defining characteristic of one of the protagonists is this epithet: "...they laughed, laughed, ran, and in that moment it was such great happiness that they even forgot the great injustice that Boka, Boka himself, the quiet and serious Boka also said that it was unheard of". In Attila József's poem, he warns: "instruct with good words, let him play / your beautiful, serious son!"
In these works, the word is used in its original sense: Timéa's face is pensive, not cheerful. Boka , by nature and due to his maturity, behaves judiciously, aware of his responsibilities , who is also calm, decent, orderly, good-natured, solid, etc. The latter can be the meaning of the serious adjective in the quoted poem as well.
But - sometimes straying far from this meaning - this lexeme pours out of the media like a flood. Unnecessarily and without content, as an empty buzzword, instead of the phrase that fits the context much better: "We believe in the serious relationships"; " a serious refereeing error hit" the team at the rally; " serious gusts are coming". Although the press has long worn out this graying expression of language use, it has been stubbornly present in writing and speech for decades, along with many of its peers. And we can replace it with one of the whole series of words that are better suited to the context - with a similar meaning! Correcting the quoted: let's believe in the lasting relationships; serious mistake, deer mistake ; strong, stormy, violent gusts of wind.
The "cosmic seriousness" of the media is laugh-out-loud: " A serious solar storm has hit the Earth..." Anyway, this adjective is common in reports about nature and weather reports: " The box moth is causing serious " serious shower is coming"; " serious cooling". On a regular basis: a huge, enormous, destructive, unrelenting, ferocious solar storm; destructive, massive, causing considerable damage to the leaves of plants; a hearty, country-wide (national) shower; significant, strong cooling.
We find it in health notices: "Untreated varicose veins serious complications"; " Unrecognized gluten sensitivity can have serious consequences". Meaningful word: serious, fatal complication, consequence; can cause a critical "Strong evidence found that insufficient vitamin D supply may play a role in the development of chronic heart disease": convincing, conclusive . "The family doctor can encounter many interesting and complicated problems in his practice, and a serious role in solving them": an essential, determining, indispensable, vital role.
It is also commonplace in the chronicles reporting on road collisions and sports accidents: "Spasms and stiffness in the muscles a serious decrease in performance"; "According to the information, injury is not serious ." More specifically: a large, significant, significant performance reduction; is not serious .
It often appears on media sites that discuss the novelties of culture and technology: "At least three serious articles in the study volume deal with the books of one of our contemporary writers." This is better: three in-depth, high-quality, thought-provoking and demanding articles analyze the books (rather than deal with them). For the jury, " listening to and evaluating the 435 songs was a serious a commendable, unusual achievement. "A very serious reason why it is worth learning English...": a compelling reason. " Serious stamp collection": valuable, remarkable, complete . A scientist can " claim a serious high-quality, outstanding, of lasting value . " You can be the ace in a serious prestigious competition. "Works of art a serious effect on our souls": an elementary, enormous, humanity-enhancing effect. "A really serious work from China!" Carved out of a twelve-meter-long tree stump, this Guinness record-breaking work is demanding, outstanding, classy, thorough, unique, and huge .
" serious progress" is a new experimental engine in the operating system: leap-like, qualitative development, great progress. (And e.g. this word can be omitted in the statements serious problems" and "the cooling of the motors a serious
Media columns reporting on politics are full of him: " Serious optimism has broken out in the markets"; the locality " serious content". the disorientation of serious optimism, we can write this: we experienced an encouraging outlook . The content can be rich, diverse and colorful .
It is also common to add words that leave specific figures in the title, in the introduction of the text, in the dark: " One of the foreign soccer teams made a serious "Another serious layoff" in the life of a company. In such cases, it is worth announcing e.g. the amount of profit, as soon as the " serious musical experience is behind them" precise indication in the communication (depending on the time spent in practice), e.g. two decades of experience.
Because of this objectionable flow of words, the serious can become (became) frivolous... However, this can be avoided. Because we have seen: "serious" (more precisely: large , huge, respectable ) synonyms available to replace this monotonous, tirelessly repeated expression...
Author: Lajos Arany
