Lisa McCreadie (X) Jan 6, 2014:

My solution here would be 'brimming' but that's just my preference :)

Wendy Streitparth Jan 5, 2014:

@ Janice: the OED defines to seethe u.a. as:
(of a place) be crowded with people or things moving about in a rapid or hectic way
How about throbbing?

Janice Giffin Jan 5, 2014:

@ wsheree > "seriosi to counter......" Your translation here is good, but I agree with Wendy that swarming is too aggressive a word. However, I would not use seething, which suggests anger. Perhaps 'teeming'? Good luck!

Wendy Streitparth Jan 5, 2014:

Swarm doesn't seem to be the right word here: I think the pilot would soon return to base if the passengers started swarming! Maybe seethe. Also it would be better to avoid two "flights".
The plan was seething with barely restrainable Spanish, which resulted in a pillow fight erupting after around three hours in the air, an event never seen before in ...

wsheree (asker) Jan 5, 2014:

"seriosi" to counter a previous experience Thank you for the responses, this irony was apparent however I struggled to embed it. The above paragraph closes the chapter and aims to show the difference between the passengers on each flight.

At the start of this chapter the protagonist (a youth) had an encounter on another flight with very subdued and unhappy passengers who were seated around him. "The flight over to Mexico was with X airline where I was surrounded by German people with shorts and floral shirts who looked more like the patrons of a funeral parlor than a holiday flight".

In order to deal with this, would this work for the entire phrase? :

" The plane was swarming with ebullient Spanish whose level of enthusiasm was such that a pillow fight broke out around three hours into the flight, an event never seen before in the history of transatlantic flights. "

Andrew Bramhall Jan 5, 2014:

Yes, irony is there! so deadly serious/ intent on having a good time;

Tom in London Jan 5, 2014:

not "serioso" does not mean "serious".

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=92886

philgoddard Jan 5, 2014:

Presumably they're being ironic, though I'm not sure why (perhaps more context would help). You could take out the irony and say "good-humoured/ebullient Spaniards".

Andrew Bramhall Jan 5, 2014:

The first option is perfect ! 'serious' not 'stern' 'stern is an expression describing countenance or demeanour ; but you could put 'deadly' berfore serious' as an enhancer and reinforcer.