0

How to translate this Chinese "一点都不少" elegantly? Google translate doesn't help a bit.

The general meaning of this sentence is that the stuff you have is no less at all than before. The context I want to use it is that I have a component which contains lots of stuff, and it is name changed at some point, but the stuffs are no less, maybe even more. So, this Chinese sentence just emphasize this meaning. I am not sure how to say it in English elegantly.

12
  • 1
    Can you explain its meaning? (Google Translate returned "That have a lot of", which doesn't make any sense.) Dec 15, 2013 at 14:11
  • I'm not sure, but does it mean "Small things are not trivial"? Dec 15, 2013 at 14:42
  • @DamkerngT. The general meaning of this sentence is that the stuff you have is no less at all than before. The context I want to use it is that I have a component which contains lots of stuff, and it is name changed at some point, but the stuffs are no less, maybe even more. So, this Chinese sentence just emphasize this meaning. I am not sure how to say it in English elegently.
    – Wayne Wang
    Dec 15, 2013 at 15:07
  • 1
    @ThePhoton Agreed. It's quite informal That's why I said it's a rough translation. I attempted to keep the words as close as possible, but With my very limited knowledge on Chinese, I know only three words: 一 means one, 不 means not, and 少 means small (or little, few, less). The other two I used Google and got: 点 means point, and 都 means all. A word-by-word translation of 一点都不少 would be one-point-all-not-bit, so I guessed not any point has changed just a bit, but I'm still unsure if that's correct. For a little more formality, what do you think about: hasn't changed in the slightest? Dec 15, 2013 at 20:18
  • 4
    This question appears to be off-topic because it is about translation. Dec 16, 2013 at 5:00

3 Answers 3

3

I suspect you are looking for phrases like:

not a bit less (than before) [applies to uncountable things]

not corresponds to 不, a bit to 一点 (I don't know Chinese, but in Japanese this is "itten": particle, point, etc), less corresponds to 少. If you want to work in some kind of loose counterpart for 都 to make it more literal: "not a bit less at all than before"; "on the whole, not a bit less than before".

no fewer (than before) [applies to countable things]

at least as much as before [" " uncountable "]

at least as many as before [" " countable "]

Variations are possible, such as "not an iota less than before" (iota = small amount (usually of something uncountable)), "not a drop less water than before" or "not a grain of rice less than before", "not a penny less than before", ...

In mathematics and related technical disciplines, quantities which grow (with respect to some variable) and never diminish are called "monotonically increasing". In a technical field if you want to express that some quantity never decreases (for instance with time), but only gets bigger, you can say that it is "monotonically increasing (with time)".

In English there are various verbs that refer to some sort of decrease with different nuances: erode, dwindle, diminish, decrease, decline, contract, shrink, reduce, ... These can be negated to indicate the lack of such a decrease: unshrinking supply, undiminishing supply, undwindling stock, unabating effort.

1

There is relatively common English phrase that says:

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

The expression is sometimes used to explain synergy, teamwork, efficient systems, and effective processes.

I'm having a little trouble understanding your explanation of the original, but the phrase I've provided here seems to have some commonality with "the stuffs are no less, maybe even more."

0

“Undiminished” is a word that captures the possibility of increase with the impossibility of decrease.  “Equal or greater” may be applicable.  For example, the rules for contests often say, “We may give you a prize of equal or greater value than the one you won (qualified for).”

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .