The stalling went on for over 18 months until September 1994, when the advisers' tone became more serious.

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As we became more serious about each other, we had serious talks: He couldn't give me the life I wanted, he'd say.

WSJ: Love and Barbecue

Why, too, was Equitable allowed to present two quite different faces to the world as the problem became more serious in the late 1990s?

ECONOMIST: Equitable Life: The blame game | The

And you can see very steadily how it increased through the month, especially in the middle of last year, as the credit crisis became more serious.

CNN: Transcript of May 'CNN Money Summit: Money & Main St.'

While showing less confidence and bullishness as the market correction that began in April became more serious, three weeks ago the poll showed 34% were still bullish, and only 32% were bearish (the rest neutral).

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They also found that very thin children who became fat adults were more at risk of serious health problems.

BBC: Obesity 'not linked to childhood'

What began as a story about what was really said became a story about who leaked a police log but it is now much more serious than that.

BBC: Why the Andrew Mitchell 'plebgate' story matters