If you want to be respected...
If you want to be respected by Lithuanian....you should be a “serious man” because in Lithuanian society the highest praise you can give someone was traditionally: 'He or she is a serious person' (rimtas zmogus). It means a lot of things. The word rimtas (it's related to ramus = calm, peaceful) suggests a whole host of positive attributes in the person it describes: reliability, discretion, sense of responsibility, sobriety, steadfastness. In fact, it implies a well balanced person, who does indeed know when to laugh, but also when to play it straight.
