The phrase "a serious shock" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe an event or situation that causes significant surprise or distress.
Example: "The news of the sudden layoffs was a serious shock to the employees, leaving many in disbelief."
Alternatives: "a profound shock" or "a significant shock".
"It makes a huge difference and it's a serious shock to the system," admitted Lewis Hamilton.
Even in the best case this would cause a serious shock to the UK economy".
As the feted ghostwriter of Andrew Loog Oldham's memoirs, 2Stoned, one of Spence's claims comes as a serious shock.
"Cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires and loose connections can cause a serious shock or start a fire," he said.
In a country heavily dependent on hydrocarbons (97% of its total exports) this is a serious shock.
The layoffs would be a serious shock to the company, which was founded in 1980 and has experienced a virtually continuous rise in sales and profit since its first product, Epogen, reached the market in 1989.
The global mining industry is struggling after a serious demand shock, Mr. Pez said, but most rival companies will probably not need to take such radical action.
A source close to Cameron said that there was now overwhelming evidence, backed up by Sunday's Observer survey of economists, that leaving the EU would cause a "serious economic shock" and that "the suggestion that crashing your economy is the best way of dealing with immigration is clearly nonsense".
Among the most fearful of a potential Brexit is big business, whose main lobby group, the Confederation of British Industry, which represents some 190,000 businesses, has warned of a "serious economic shock" should voters choose to quit the EU in the referendum on June 23.
Intelligent men might explain that wars were no longer worth fighting and borders obsolete; a sophisticated, cosmopolitan elite -- like the U.S.-educated technocrats who ran Mexico until they were overthrown in 1911 -- might move freely between continents; but the political foundations for a global economy were never properly laid, and at the first serious shock the structure collapsed.
I was in for serious shock.
