salutary lesson
an experience which teaches something very important
TRANSLATION
salutary lesson = heilsame Lehre --- GOOGLE INDEX 95,700 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
PARIS: The first round of the French elections has provided a SALUTARY LESSON in the effects of the economic crisis in a Western democracy.
BBC News
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salutary lesson
noun phrase
- an experience having a good effect on somebody or something, though often seeming unpleasant
(Oxford Learner's Dictionary)
The word salutary comes from French salutaire or Latin salutaris, and is related to "health", or the state of being healthy. A few centuries ago, the word primarily was used to refer to healing or providing a cure. Now it is more broadly used to describe an event that causes improvement.
A salutary lesson provides beneficial results, although it may be uncomfortable at the time. For schoolchildren, this could be doing poorly on a quiz, which makes them study harder to get good marks later on. Following an attack of bronchitis, an adult might give up smoking.
In business, the idiomatic expression "wake-up call" is commonly used as well. This means that an unpleasant event moves individuals to action, just as the ringing of an alarm clock, or a wake-up call from the hotel reception, wakes us up in the morning.
Whether through a salutary lesson or a wake-up call, we realize that it is time to remedy a bad situation by changing our behaviour.
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SYNONYMS for salutary
healthful, wholesome, helpful, aiding, beneficial
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Losing that customer was a salutary lesson for the sales team."
noun phrase
- an experience having a good effect on somebody or something, though often seeming unpleasant
(Oxford Learner's Dictionary)
The word salutary comes from French salutaire or Latin salutaris, and is related to "health", or the state of being healthy. A few centuries ago, the word primarily was used to refer to healing or providing a cure. Now it is more broadly used to describe an event that causes improvement.
A salutary lesson provides beneficial results, although it may be uncomfortable at the time. For schoolchildren, this could be doing poorly on a quiz, which makes them study harder to get good marks later on. Following an attack of bronchitis, an adult might give up smoking.
In business, the idiomatic expression "wake-up call" is commonly used as well. This means that an unpleasant event moves individuals to action, just as the ringing of an alarm clock, or a wake-up call from the hotel reception, wakes us up in the morning.
Whether through a salutary lesson or a wake-up call, we realize that it is time to remedy a bad situation by changing our behaviour.
---
SYNONYMS for salutary
healthful, wholesome, helpful, aiding, beneficial
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Losing that customer was a salutary lesson for the sales team."
