seriously folks
6
9.5
- idiom
- Informal
- You might laugh, but seriously folks, climate change is a real threat.
Examples
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The show was fun, but seriously folks, please drive safely on your way home.
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Seriously folks, let's focus on the main point of the discussion now.
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Hey, seriously folks!
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Listen up, seriously folks!
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Seriously folks, we need to take this issue seriously if we want to make a difference.
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Seriously folks, I appreciate the jokes, but this matter is very important to us.
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Seriously folks, I know it's been a fun event, but we must discuss the safety measures.
Synonyms
∞
1.6
In a way that shows you mean what you say
∞
1.1
Said when you want to stress that you really mean what you say
95
6.0
To show you really mean what you say
36
4.8
To do something with serious effort and not as a joke
Antonyms
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'seriously' (not joking) with 'folks' (people/audience), so its function—addressing listeners and signaling a shift to sincerity or a more serious topic—is directly inferable from the constituent meanings and common discourse patterns. This compositional, literal relation makes the expression immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Seriously folks comes from speakers and performers who call their audience 'folks' and then add seriously after a joke to show they now mean what they say. That's why people use it to 'shift to a serious topic' or to 'show they are sincere'.