solid stuff

[Kenny同志]

If a book is solid stuff, does it mean there is little in it that is useless or unnecessary?

[roddy]

No, it means it's good enough, but nothing special. See definition 4 (need to expand the definition box)

"sound but without any special qualities or flair."

 

Edit: I guess the interpretation could depend on what type of book it is. A novel that's 'solid stuff' might not be very good, but a book about a new scientific theory that's 'solid stuff' might be worth taking seriously. 

[Kenny同志]

there is little in it that is useless or unnecessary?

 

 

I see. Thanks Roddy.

 

Do you have any term in English that can be used to describe a book that has little in it that is useless?

[roddy]

I can't think of any book-specific terms. Words you might use are scant, skimpy, sparse, worthless, pointless, or no value. Do you want to give me a sentence?

[deathtrap]

Coming from Canadian or general North American English, if someone describes a book as "solid stuff" it means it's worth reading and has a great amount of useful information regardless of what type of book it is, or it's a really good read overall. It's "solid" as opposed to "weak". 

 

As for your second question, the only word that comes to mind at the moment is "dense". 

[Lu]

I would also read 'solid stuff' as something good (although not outstanding or remarkable), something you can count on. I'm not a native speaker though.

I second the suggestion of 'dense'.

[Shelley]

a book that has little in it that is useless

 

Do you mean it is a book that does not have extraneous information, only information relevant to the topic?

If that is the case, I would say it was precise and to the point, or concise.

 

concise =

 

giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words; brief but comprehensive.

"a concise account of the country's history"

synonyms: succinct, short, brief, to the point, pithy, incisive, short and sweet, crisp

 

 

precise=

 

 

marked by exactness and accuracy of expression or detail.

"precise directions"

synonyms: exact, accurate, correct, error-free, pinpoint, specific, detailed, explicit, clear-cut, unambiguous, meticulous, close, strict, definite, particular, express;

 

A less technical approach might be "uncluttered".

 

P.S. I would consider solid stuff to mean it was worth reading, that the information was valid.

[Kenny同志]

Thank you very much, everybody. It seems 'solid stuff' can be interpreted slightly differently.

 

Anyway, I was translating the word 乾貨 into English. Apart from dried food, it also refers to 內容切題, 充實, 有用的言文(speech and writing). If I say 今天上課，老師講的都是乾貨, it means all the teacher says today in the class is useful and does not contain any extraneous information. 

 

Does this word have any equivalent in English?

[li3wei1]

That's interesting. We can refer to a book or lecture as 'dry', but it means it is boring and technical (this may be because it is devoid of extraneous material, but not necessarily). I can't think of a word to describe what you mean, apart from 'useful', You could say 'pared down' or 'stripped back' to indicate that anything unnecessary has been removed.

[Kenny同志]

Thanks for your help, liwei. I think I will have to use a whole sentence to explain what it means...

[anonymoose]

英文里，solid可以表示很实在、很令人满足的，不一定很出色，但充分地达到人们的期望，多用来形容作品、表演之类的东西，比如足球赛中可以说球队had a very solid performance。

[Lu]

If you only need it once in this text, I'd just pick a meaning that fits that particular instance. If it's wordplay... perhaps 'nutricious' or something? 'Filling'?

[Kenny同志]

Thank you, Anonymoose and Lu.

 

Well, in fact, the word has no context. I just need to give it a precise translation or explain what it means exactly. : )

[renzhe]

For a book, you could say, it's "packed with useful information". The implication is that there is little "fluff" or "filler", which is the opposite of useful information.

[Angelina]

I can see why 乾貨 reminds you of solid, but the extended meaning of solid is not that similar. Lu is right, when translating you should consider the context. Cool word anyway. 

[Kenny同志]

謝謝兩位。

[liuzhou]

The Oxford English Dictionary gives this sense of 'solid', related to writing. They date it back  to the 17th century.

 

"Marked by, or involving, serious study or intention; not light, frivolous, or merely amusing. "

 

And also

 

"Of arguments, reasons, etc.: Having a sound or substantial foundation; based upon sound principles or indisputable facts."

[Kenny同志]

Thanks for the quotes, 柳州.