SERIOUS°

adjective (Business World) In business jargon: considerable, worth taking seriously. Used especially in serious money, a large sum of money. Etymology: A development of sense which relies on a kind of shorthand: it is not the money, the commodity, etc. that is serious, but the intention of the person offering it. Thus a serious offer of money, for example, became serious money. History and Usage: This is a well-established US business usage (it has been in colloquial use for several decades). It became current in other English-speaking countries in the second half of the eighties and increasingly found its way into print. According to some business executives, the fixed phrase serious money can be tied down to a figure containing a specified number of noughts; whether or not in this phrase, serious tends to be preceded by the verb talk, used transitively. Bankability: Serious money. Recent two-book deal with Viking earned him more than ø150,000. Correspondent Magazine 29 Oct. 1989, p. 66 She wore these three-inch heels...I'm talking serious stiletto. Alice Walker Temple of My Familiar (1989), p. 244