good friend-material

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Selviya87

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Hi, all :-D
I find this idiom: "good friend-material" and curious to know the meaning. I grab it from a novel I'm reading.

Thanks indeed for your help ;-)

Selviya87
 

JMurray

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"good friend-material"

Selviya87.
Somebody who is "good friend-material" has the kind of qualities and personality that would make them a good person to have as a friend.
 

Selviya87

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Wow, thanks JMurray :) it really helps :-o
 

Tripp

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The punctuation in this phrase needs to be corrected. The proper form is:
"good-friend material." What kind of material is she? The "good-friend" kind.
In this case, the hyphenated phrase "good-friend" is being used collectively as an adjective that is modifying the noun "material."
 

catbert

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I find this idiom: "good friend-material" and curious to know the meaning. I grab it from a novel I'm reading.

Are you sure it was "good friend-material" and not "girlfriend material"?

Honestly, "good friend-material" doesn't make any sense. :-?
Even with the punctuation correction provided above by Tripp, I can't say I ever heard anyone say this.
 
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JMurray

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The punctuation in this phrase needs to be corrected. The proper form is:
"good-friend material." What kind of material is she? The "good-friend" kind.
In this case, the hyphenated phrase "good-friend" is being used collectively as an adjective that is modifying the noun "material."

Another way of looking at this. The original usage may be something like: "Do you think that the neighbour's son might make good friend-material for our Johnny?".

.. "friend-material" = the requirements and potential to be a friend, therefore "good friend-material" suggests a better than average potential. Whether they can truly become "good friends" only time can tell.

Further examples:
"Harry was playing on the wing last season but I think his strong tackling makes him good fullback-material, it might be worth trying him there".
"She's a clever writer and well organised, which could make her good editor-material when the current editor leaves".


not a teacher
 
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