Things are so dire sometimes that it's necessary.
"I did it twice because things were so dire," he said.
Things are so dire on Belgium's roads, that the OECD has urged local authorities to take action.
Things are so dire that S.U.V.-loving Americans have begun to downsize — so long as it's into a larger vehicle.
Things became so dire that one day last summer he had decided to quit, only to receive a call the next morning from a producer of the Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods," saying the network wanted to feature him in an episode.
But a big reason why things are so dire is because it bought a bank in really bad shape, not because it engaged in irresponsible lending and took on too much leverage.
No, the historians insist: by the mid-70s, things were so dire that was it any wonder the likes of General Sir Walter Walker and other old soldiers were ready to step in and shore up a country unable to fuel its schools, homes and factories for more than three days a week?
Amster said that things were so dire, he stopped feeling human.
Q: In 1989, right after you took office, you described the Los Angeles Unified School District as on the verge of a "total collapse and disaster". Are things still so dire?
Things were so dire that Carrión specifically asked New York's family court judges to stop sending kids to her facilities, and requested that they only do so if the boys posed a significant risk to public safety.
